Tarquini puts Alfa back at the top

The former British champion Gabriele Tarquini returned Alfa Romeo to the winners' circle with victory in round 14 of the International Touring Car Championship at Silverstone yesterday.

The Italian had earlier finished second to the Vauxhall driver Klaus Ludwig in the first of the day's races, part of the new global touring car series.

"For me, it is like winning at home," Tarquini said yesterday after his first success of the year. "It was very important to look after the tyres today, especially on the tighter section of the track. In the first race I couldn't do anything about Ludwig, but I had the second one totally under control."

Tarquini was helped when Ludwig's car refused to start on the grid, and the Italian immediately vaulted ahead of his Alfa team-mates Nicola Larini and Jason Watt. Lorini, test driver for the Ferrari F1 squad, finished third in round 13 but suffered tyre problems in the next race, allowing the former grand prix driver JJ Lehto to move up into second with a stirring drive.

Lehto played a major part in the battle of the day, the Finn tussling with his team-mate Alex Wurz as well as Watt. The trio swapped positions for lap after lap, keeping the 34,000 crowd on its feet as the Le Mans winner Wurz lost his car's bonnet after contact with Watt. "I can't remember how many times we passed each other. Everything went by in such a rush. It's a long time since I enjoyed a race so much," Watt said.

He held on for his best finish of the year, taking the final podium place ahead of Wurz and the reigning ITC champion Bernd Schneider. The German was the best-placed Mercedes driver as his team struggled with a poor tyre choice. His British team-mate Dario Franchitti qualified third but suffered gearbox problems on the warm-up lap and was never in contention. The other British driver, Oliver Gavin, finished just out of the points in round 13 but spun off in the next race.

Despite being hit by his team-mate Uwe Alzen, Manuel Reuter hung on for a pair of sixth-place finishes to maintain his title lead.