BMW takes Manufacturers' and Drivers' ETCC titles

There were some "old" and new faces in the 2004 customer teams which run under the BMW banner and fly their national flags.

• BMW Team Deutschland (Schnitzer Motorsport) kept its all-German line up of Jörg Müller and Dirk Müller for the third season, and
• Andy Priaulx (GBR) was again the sole representative of BMW Team Great Britain (Team RBM). However, Andy did have a team-mate in his garage for five of the race weekends as
• BMW Team Belgium-Luxembourg entered an RBM-run car for Kurt Mollekens (BEL).
• BMW Team Italy-Spain (Ravaglia Motorsport) created the new story of the year as Alessandro Zanardi (ITA) chose to make his full-time racing comeback in this team alongside Antonio Garcia (ESP).

It was in Oschersleben that BMW was able to clinch the Manufacturers' Championship for the second successive year, but doing this on home ground watched by BMW Motorsport Director, Mario Theissen, was the icing on the cake. Also on this weekend, the penultimate in the championship calendar, Tom Coronel (NLD) in the privately entered BMW 320i of Carly Motors won the Independents Trophy. Again it was two in a row, as in 2003 Duncan Huisman had won the title for the team. Andy Priaulx in his BMW Team Great Britain car had to wait for the final chequered flag to fall in Dubai to celebrate his Drivers' Championship crown, but it was certain after Oschersleben that this title could only go to a BMW driver.

2004 Championship campaign starts well in Monza

The BMW campaign got off well in Italy in March with a win for BMW Team Deutschland's Jörg Müller despite the fierce competition from Alfa Romeo on home turf. Alessandro Zanardi had been a guest driver at the final race in Monza in 2003 and had realised he was still competitive in a car, despite having to use hand controls for everything except the brake. He scored his first point of the season in race one and his team-mate, Antonio Garcia, scored three in race two.

From this very first race weekend it was certain winning the titles was going to be hard, but the next races at Valencia proved just how hard the battle was going to be. Here in Spain, Alfa swept the board and the BMW drivers never got a look in on the podium. However, Dirk Müller and Andy Priaulx made sure that the pendulum swung back towards BMW in Magny-Cours with wins in the two races, this also being the weekend when Kurt Mollekens had his first races. Then the first home race in Hockenheim was a dream for BMW as Andy and Jörg shared the victories. The next race in Brno marked the halfway point in the season and going there the situation could not have been better. BMW led Alfa by 31 points and Jörg Müller led Dirk Müller by a couple of points, with the reigning champion, Gabriele Tarquini, the best Alfa driver in third.

Andy Priaulx's championship charge begins

The star of Brno was without doubt Andy Priaulx. He was the quickest BMW driver in qualifying and then went on to win race one and come second in race two just behind Dirk Müller. In many ways Andy's championship charge really began there in earnest as he found himself second in the points table just four behind Dirk.

A disastrous qualifying session at his home race in Donington did not deter Andy. He went on to win the second race and, with five points from race one, was able to leave there leading the championship. However, Spa proved to be a bad weekend for him, so a month later he found himself behind both Dirk and Jörg, who won the two races at the famous Belgian circuit. In many ways Imola was a race to forget for most of the BMW drivers.  Alfa were back on song and dominated the races, as this track did not suit the BMW cars. Dirk Müller was the only BMW driver to make a podium appearance for third in race two. For Andy and Jörg the on-track competition was so tough they both crashed out due to accidents that were no fault of their own. Meanwhile, Alex Zanardi had a heart-stopping accident that saw the race red-flagged after he smashed into the wall due to brake failure. Luckily Alex was able to walk away from the severely damaged car. Dirk Müller was still leading the Drivers' Championship going into Oschersleben, but Gabriele Tarquini, thanks to two race wins in Imola, was able to jump into second. It seemed that Oschersleben was going to be a decisive weekend for those chasing the titles. This was certainly the case as Andy Priaulx took his fifth win of the season and Gabriele Tarquini saw
his challenge literally go up in smoke when his car stopped on the side of the track with flames coming from the engine compartment. However, Andy's joy didn't last long as Augusto Farfus Jr, who seemed to be involved in more than his fair share of accidents during the season, collided with him in race two, bringing his weekend to a close. Dirk had two podium finishes and left the circuit for the final rounds in Dubai with what looked like an unassailable lead of 12 points. BMW had their second consecutive Manufacturers' win to celebrate, but were also happy to congratulate the SEAT team who had won their first FIA ETCC race with Rickard Rydell driving.

Dirk Müller and Andy Priaulx battle it out in the Dubai desert

In Dubai the heat was on. The temperature was in the mid-thirties, and
Jörg Müller and Andy Priaulx knew that Dirk Müller was in the driving seat as far as the drivers' title was concerned. However, it was the weekend when Andy Priaulx could do no wrong. He took his first pole of the year while Jörg was ninth and Dirk tenth. Andy had proved that coming from the back was not impossible, but due to a collision with the privateer Alfa driver, Luca Rangoni, Dirk could not do this and had to pit twice for damage repairs. As the lights went out for the final race of 2004, Dirk had a four-point lead over Andy but had to start from the back of the grid. However, it was far from plain sailing as a red flag came out during the first lap, and in the carnage that followed Andy Priaulx and Jörg Müller ended up with damaged cars. Luckily they were able to take the re-start. Dirk drove as hard as he could and did a fantastic charge from the back to fifth. But he needed just one more place as Andy crossed the line second and Dirk fifth, leaving them tied on
111 points each. In these circumstances the number of wins decides the title, so Andy won as he had five against Dirk's three. The elusive first win just escaped BMW Team Italy-Spain, with a second place for Antonio Garcia in Hockenheim being the team's best result. While Antonio had a disappointing last race in Dubai, this was the highlight of the season for Alex. Not only did he start race two from the front row of the grid, but he also had his best finish of the season in sixth.
Jörg Müller also notched up three race wins, so bringing the overall total for BMW drivers to 11. BMW drivers were on pole three times for race one (two for Jörg and one for Andy), set ten fastest laps and led for 124 laps while the Alfa Romeo drivers only led for 79 laps.

Final Results

FIA ETCC 2004 - Drivers.
Drivers Monza (ITA) Valencia (ESP) Magny-Cours (FRA) Hockenheim (GER) Brno (CZE) Donington (GBR) Spa (BEL) Imola (ITA) Oschersleben (GER) Dubai (UAE) Total
1. Andy Priaulx (GBR)BMW 48 5 3 1 10 10 0 10 8 3 10 5 4 4 0 10 0 88 111
2. Dirk Müller (GER)BMW 6 6 4 5 10 3 8 6 5 10 0 5 10 8 1 6 6 8 0 4 111
3. Gabriele Tarquini (ITA) Alfa Romeo 10 0 10 8 4 8 0 3 0 0 6 8 4 5 10 10 0 0 10 10 106
4. Jörg Müller (GER)BMW 5 10 3 4 8 5 5 10 2 5 8 0 8 10 2 0 5 0 3 0 93
5. Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA)Alfa Romeo 8 0 8 10 3 4 0 0 4 4 5 0 0 0 8 8 0 1 0 0 63
6. Augusto Farfus (BRA)Alfa Romeo 0 0 6 6 6 6 0 0 0 0 4 0 1 0 6 0 8 6 5 0 54
7. Antonio Garcia (ESP)BMW 0 3 2 0 5 0 3 8 6 3 0 4 3 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 43
8. Jordi Gené (ESP)SEAT 0 2 0 0 2 0 6 5 0 0 2 0 6 0 5 5 3 3 0 0 39
9. James Thompson (GBR)Alfa Romeo - - - - - - - - - - 10 6 0 1 - - 4 4 6 6 37
10. Rickard Rydell (SWE)SEAT 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 10 0 0 29
11. Frank Diefenbacher (GER)SEAT 24 00 0 0 40 1 6 00 2 0 01 00 4 5 29
12. Tom Coronel (NED)BMW 35 00 01 01 32 01 03 0 0 1 5 -- 25
13. Kurt Mollekens (BEL)BMW -- - - 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 3 02 - - -- -- 9
14. Salvatore Tavano (ITA)Alfa Romeo 00 12 0 0 0 0 00 00 0 0 3 0 0 0 02 8
14. Alessandro Zanardi (ITA)BMW 10 00 00 00 00 02 00 0 0 00 2 3 8
16. Luca Rangoni (ITA)Alfa Romeo 00 01 0 0 2 2 00 00 00 00 00 10 6
17. Alessandro Balzan (ITA)Honda 00 00 00 0 0 1 00 00 00 03 00 00 3
18. Michele Bartyan (AUT) Alfa Romeo 00 00 00 00 0 0 3 00 00 02 00 01 3
19. Carl Rosenblad (SWE)BMW 00 00 00 00 00 00 0 0 00 02 0 0 2
20. Stefano D'Aste (ITA) BMW 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - - 1
Gianni Morbidelli (ITA) SEAT 00 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0
Simon Harrison (GBR) Honda 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0 0 0
Tony R. Ruokonen (FIN) Honda 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 -- -- 0 0 0
Sebastian Grunert (GER) Ford 00 00 00 00 00 -- 00 00 -- 00 0
Roland Asch (GER) Ford 00 -- 00 00 -- -- -- -- -- - - 0
Paulien Zwart (NED) BMW 00 00 -- -- -- -- 00 -- -- - - 0
Klaas Zwart (NED) BMW -- -- 00 -- 00 00 -- -- -- - - 0
Jan Magnussen (DEN)Peugeot -- 00 00 00 00 00 00 -- -- 00 0
Jason Watt (DEN)Peugeot -- -- -- -- -- 00 -- -- -- - - 0
Duncan Huisman (NED)BMW -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 00 - - 0
Thomas Klenke (GER) Ford -- 00 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - - 0
Sandro Sardelli (ITA) Peugeot -- -- -- -- -- -- 00 00 00 00 0

FIA ETCC 2004 - Manufacturers.
Manufacturer Monza (ITA) Valencia (ESP) Magny-Cours (FRA) Hockenheim (GER) Brünn (CZE) Donington (GBR) Spa (BEL) Imola (ITA) Oschersleben (GER) Dubai (UAE) Total
1. BMW 1118 99 1815 1818 1618 1115 1818 66 1613 1112 276
2. Alfa Romeo 180 1818 1014 25 44 1614 56 1818 1210 1616 224
3. SEAT 26 00 20 109 96 20 80 59 513 45 95

Position 1  2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Points   10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1