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There was double delight for BMW at Oschersleben as BMW Team Germany Augusto Farfus and BMW Italy-Spain driver Félix Porteiro won the latest two WTCC races.

RACE ONE

The stage was set for a dramatic race with Robert Huff in the Chevrolet on pole, and Gabriele Tarquini, a title contender, next to him in the SEAT Sport TDI.

From the rolling start Tarquini took the lead over the line, but then things began to unfold. Augusto Farfus took his BMW Team Germany car up the outside of the pack and stayed out of trouble. He took the lead out of the first corner and stayed there for the rest of the race, only strengthening his lead away from the field.

Tarquini and Huff followed him round the corner, but Nicola Larini, who was squeezed by Jordi Gene and Rickard Rydell, spun and hit his team-mate as he went out at turn two. That ended Larini's race, but Huff recovered and chased after Tarquini. Further back Alessandro Zanardi was pushed into a spin and Andy Priaulx took to the grass.

After everything had calmed down, Farfus was left out in front with the others fighting for second place. Tarquini was beginning to struggle and first Huff pulled off a move up the inside, followed quickly by Alain Menu to take the last podium position.

Even though Tarquini fought to save the position he was unable to and began to fall back down the field. Tiago Monteiro took fourth position, followed by team-mates Gene and Rydell into fifth and sixth places respectively. Tarquini then clashed with Priaulx as the British driver attempted to overtake him for seventh.

The collision ended with Priaulx going backwards into the tyre wall and out of the race. Tarquini ended up back in 23rd position overall and was penalised after the race by stewards: 30 seconds for the incident and another 30 for a jump start.

Olivier Tielemans was also called to account for a collision with James Thompson: he received a 30-second penalty.

Both drivers also received a suspended 10-position grid penalty - Tielemans for one event and Tarquini for two.

Other drivers who experienced troubles were Joerg Mueller and Yvan Muller, who both had technical problems and fell back down the field.

Tom Coronel finished in seventh position following his relegation to ninth after qualifying. This meant he started on the front row in the second race alongside Felix Porteiro, who won the pole on the reverse grid.

Pierre-Yves Corthals had looked on course for the win of the Independents' race, but he had an incident near the end of the race and left the win to Stefano D'Aste.

RACE TWO

BMW Italy-Spain driver Felix Porteiro managed to lead the race from pole to claim an impressive win in the second race at Oschersleben - his first of the season.

He escaped all the drama at the first corner after having a brilliant start, and led from Tom Coronel in the SUNRED SEAT away from the chaos.

It seemed to be that everyone else piled into one another into the first corner, leaving Tiago Monteiro and James Thompson out of the race almost immediately.

Augusto Farfus had an excellent start from eighth on the grid, but he was pushed wide at the first corner and had to chase after the leaders. Other drivers involved in first lap incidents were Alessandro Zanardi, Ibrahim Okyay, Rickard Rydell and Olivier Tielemans.

One to benefit was independent Sergio Hernandez, who ended up in fourth position by the end of the first lap. Stefano D'Aste also took advantage of the chaos and cut through the corner to rejoin the race inside the top ten.

Hernandez did not stay in fourth place, but even after being overtaken by the faster cars he ended the race in seventh position.

Coronel finished in second, having bravely resisted pressure from Robert Huff, and even chased Porteiro for the win. He drove a fantastic race on a circuit where he has historically found success.

Huff came up from seventh position on the reversed grid to take the final podium spot, but he had to overtake an extremely stubborn Jordi Gene, and defend his position from an advancing Farfus.

Gene drove an excellent and brave race as he fought off car after car defending his position. Huff may have overtaken him, but Farfus, and later Andy Priaulx, were not able to get by. He kept Farfus at bay for lap after lap; only for the Brazilian to be caught by surprise by Priaulx, who overtook him. Following this move the British driver hounded Gene, but the Spaniard kept his ground to score a great fourth position.

Priaulx took fifth, with Farfus behind him in sixth. Hernandez took seventh, enough to win the Independents' race. Yvan Muller finished in eighth position, scoring a precious point for the title fight. He had been fourth for a few laps, but he could not find the pace and slipped back down the field.

Eurosport