While the Chevrolet men were fighting at Monza for the race victories, three other drivers had tough battles to establish a hierarchy inside the BMW patrol.
Kristian Poulsen, Norbert Michelisz and Tom Coronel were involved in exciting fights for third place in both the Italian races.
In Race 1 Michelisz lost it by inches to Tiago Monteiro’s SEAT. “I am disappointed. I had the third position two laps before the end then I made a small mistake at the Ascari and Tiago managed to get just right on my tail and had a better line exiting of Parabolica. In the second race Tiago hit me from behind a bit while I was third. He apologized, saying he was also pushed. I guess a third place was in the game today.”
Poulsen achieved third position in Race 2; his best ever result in WTCC so far. “I’m really happy. It was a fantastic race and I had a great fight with Monteiro and Michelisz. Then they had a little clash and I benefited from it to create a gap. The first time on the podium, I didn’t believe it!”
Coronel was less lucky than his fellow BMW drivers. After finishing fifth in the first race, he was stopped by a puncture in the second one. “Tom made two great races, always in the middle of the group that was fighting behind the Chevrolet cars. He deserved to finish both times among the top five. It was a shame that a puncture to the rear right tyre prevented him from scoring again,” said ROAL Motorsport principal Roberto Ravaglia