Reigning world champion, Andy Priaulx in car number 1 started from pole and led the entire race to cross the line first in the first race of the season.

From the very start the Team BMW UK man created a gap and was never seriously challenged by the battling field behind him. Yvan Muller had a spectacular race in his WTCC debut to finish second. He was joined by team-mate James Thompson on the podium.

After a bad start, Farfus was caught in an incident with Alfa Romeo team-mate Tavano incurring damage to the rear of his car. He dropped down to 5th leaving Dirk Müller and Yvan Muller fighting for second. This resulted in some breathtaking moments but persistence paid dividends as Yvan overtook on the eight lap.



The fight was not over there for Dirk however as Thompson was now on his tail. On the final lap the SEAT and BMW were side by side down the straight but Thompson edged through the first corner to finish on the podium.

There was a spell of two laps under safety car conditions, after Colciago crashed at the Biassono bend and his car caught fire on the track following a clash with Edman's Peugeot.

After the re-start Zanardi, Tarquini and Rydell were competing for 6th position. After various overtaking moves Tarquini passed the chequered flag 5th with Rydell and Zanardi 6th and 7th. Augusto Farfus finished 8th and claimed pole for the second race.

Huff was the leading Chevrolet in 11th position until lap 8 when he spun and dropped to the back of the field. This left Menu to chase and overtake Costa of BMW Team Italy Spain for 10th position.

In the Independent category, Balzan was victorious and finished 9th overall.