What looked set to be an Alfa 1-2-3-4 from lights to flag was not to be, when on the last lap both Tarquini and Farfus suffered front right tyre failures. The former was lying 2nd behind the eventual race winner Fabrizio Giovanardi, when he went wide and continued at a slow pace to cross the line in 7th. Farfus’ problem was far more evident as parts of his tyres came flying off with the remaining rubber ripping the bodywork. But the Brazilian determinedly finished the race in 8th to begin Race 2 from pole. With two of the Alfas out, BMW man Andy Priaulx was left to pick up the final podium position behind Thompson.



At the start Priaulx squeezed between the SEAT cars of Ortelli and Terting to jump up to 5th. Within a matter of seconds Ortelli went wide at a corner and clashed with Terting as he re-joined the track, both retired to the pits later in the race. Dirk Müller’s cars was also involved and damaged. A further incident occurred during the first lap as Hennerici and Larini made contact collecting Jörg Müller on the way. On lap two, García overtook Gené to claim 7th and Zanardi overtook Dirk Müller for 9th. Meanwhile, the four Alfas were pulling away with Giovanardi 2nd until lap 3 when he overtook Tarquini for the lead.
After making fantastic progress at the opening stages, Coronel came from the back of the grid to challenge Menu for 11th spot. However the Dutchman retired with an engine failure, just like his Turkish team-mate Kizilirmak. Ahead of them, García mounted another attack on a SEAT, overtaking Rydell for 6th. Over the next two laps García continued his rapid pace and eventually got past Priaulx for 5th. However, Priaulx reclaimed the position after García on the last lap.
Lap 9 saw Menu battling with Rosenblad. The Chevrolet man took 11th from the Swede and eventually finished 10th as Gené’s SEAT León was the third car that suffered a tyre failure and dropped from 8th to 17th in the closing seconds. All was not lost for Rosenblad however as 11th was good enough for him to claim the independent win.