(openPR) - The Castrol-backed BMW drivers opened the season with a double podium at the Curitiba circuit in Brazil, putting the team in a strong second place in the manufacturers' championship.

BMW's reigning world champion Andy Priaulx and stable mate Felix Porteiro finished race two in second and third respectively, as Jörg Müller and Augusto Farfus rounded out an excellent team result by finishing in fourth and sixth.

Farfus, who took his maiden WTCC win in Curitiba last year, made an excellent start to the weekend, claiming third place in Saturday's qualifying, before carrying his form into race one and crossing the line in third. However, the 24-year-old Brazilian was later disqualified after an engine protection fixing was found to be in breach of technical regulations.

"It's disappointing to lose six points that I fought so hard for on the track," explained Farfus. "The speed of our car was very good, but we are still lacking outright speed so we can attack the diesel cars on the straight. We made a lot of progress over the winter."

The local-man's loss was his team mate's gain as Müller moved up into third place and Priaulx was bumped up to fourth after finishing 12th in Saturday's qualifying.

"It's not easy to gain ground from 12th on the grid," said the triple world champion. "However, today I had the dose of luck that is needed for that. My car was very competitive. On Saturday we had been off the pace. But it tells you a lot about our team that we were able to deal with that."

Following the two races in Brazil, Priaulx ranks third in the Drivers’ Championship with 13 points just ahead of Müller, whose 11 points put him in fourth, Porteiro follows in sixth position, with the unfortunate Farfus in seventh.

The next race is at Puebla in Mexico on April 6.

Race 1 results:

* 1 Yvan Muller – SEAT
* 2 Rickard Rydell – SEAT
* 3 Jorg Muller – BMW
* 4 Andy Priaulx – BMW
* 5 Gabriele Tarquini – SEAT
* 6 Felix Porteiro – BMW

Race 2 results:

* 1 Gabriele Tarquini - SEAT
* 2 Andy Priaulx - BMW
* 3 Felix Porteiro – BMW
* 4 Jorg Muller – BMW
* 5 Yvan Muller – SEAT
* 6 Augusto Farfus – BMW

Breach not malicious

The technical indiscretion that cost Farfus his third place in race one may have been enough to deny him six points, but stewards at the Curitiba circuit in Brazil were satisfied that there was no fraudulent intent behind the breach. A report from the FIA Technical Delegate deemed that the "V" support for the fixation of the engine protection did not comply with technical regulations. Farfus had been hoping for a successful weekend at his home circuit after winning at the 2007 event in his first race for BMW. BMW's Andy Priaulx

Grabbing grip

The 3.695km Curitiba circuit presented some diverse challenges for the BMW teams as a lack of grip combined with a need for high top speeds. Speaking after his 12th place qualifying run, world champion Andy Priaulx explained: "We have not yet come to terms with the low grip level at this circuit. Now we will work hard to eliminate the problems." The improvements made by Priaulx's BMW Team UK reflected the amount of expertise in his pit garage, catapulting the Briton into fourth and second places on Sunday.

For more information on the Castrol-sponsored BMW team please visit the Racing and Sponsorship section of our homepage:

www.castrol.com/castrol/subsection.do?categoryId=9014119&...

For more information on Castrol's sponsorship activities related to sports please visit:

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Contact informations / presscontact:
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Motor Oil and Lubricants Castrol UK and Ireland
Castrol UK Ltd, Wakefield House, Pipers Way, Swindon
SN3 1RE United Kingdom
www.castrol.co.uk
Press contact: Caroline Topping
Phone: +44 (1793) 452781
eMail: Caroline.topping@uk.bp.com

Castrol is the world's leading specialist provider of lubricant products. Most people know Castrol oil for vehicles such as car oil, engine oil and synthetic oil as well as motorcycle oil. But there's not just Castrol motor oil, we also produce lubricants for vehicles in transport and construction industries, such as heavy goods vehicles, buses and earth moving machinery. Castrol UK feature the brands EDGE, Magnatec, GTX, SLX Professional, Elixion, Enduron and Tection among others.