Oschersleben, FIA WORLD TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP
PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING
Weather: mostly sunny, with a dry track.
PRACTICE 1 - FUNKE’S FORD FOCUS ON TOP
Michael Funke was the surprise name that shot to the top of
the timesheet at the start of first free practice and it remained
there for the entire session. The Ford Hotfiel Sport driver
set a time of 1:33.062 in his Ford Focus within the first
ten minutes and none of his competitors were able to better
it. “I’m very happy, but not surprised, because
we have tested a lot here. I know that if everything goes
right in qualifying I can lap in the low 1:32s. I don’t
know if this will be enough to make the front row, but it
should be for a top position.”
The BMW cars of Jörg Müller and
Andy Priaulx were second and third fastest, clocking times
0.195 and 0.332 slower than that of Funke.
Another unexpected outcome was that new Team Oreca Playstation
driver, Stéphane Ortelli was the quickest of the SEAT
pack with the 4th best time overall (1:33.415), which he set
on his last lap. Jordi Gené was right behind him in
5th spot which is an encouraging start for the new SEAT León.
Gabriele Tarquini was 0.461 of a second off the top time,
making him 6th overall and the fastest Alfa Romeo driver.
Chevrolet’s best lap came from Alain Menu who clocked
a 1:34.454 to take 17th place. Eric Hélary, who is
driving the Peugeot this weekend was 20th overall.
The best of the independent category was
Marc Hennerici with the 15th best time. In fact, the top 15
times were within just one second of each other.
PRACTICE 2 – NEW SEAT LEÓN IMPRESSES
The weekend has got to a great start for Ford and Michael
Funke as they were once again, the quickest of the FIA WTCC
field. With a time of 1:33.080, he was nearly half a second
faster than anyone else. Alfa Romeo’s Gabriele Tarquini
set the second best time with six minutes remaining, while
Jörg Müller was third in his BMW. SEAT were also
among the top times with Jordi Gené completing the
fourth fastest lap in the new León, 0.749 of a second
off the lead pace. “I’m quite pleased. I have
said that our new car may be surprisingly good on its first
outing. I don’t mean it can win, but perhaps a top-five
result, which would be very good for us. And so far it is
going well, especially when you think that on the first session
I was on new tyres, but in the second I was on used tyres
like everybody else.”
A dirty track meant that many drivers spun off, Alessandro
Zanardi being one of them. The BMW Team Italy-Spain man continued
and in the late stages clocked a time of 1:34.230 to shoot
to 6th. Behind him with the 7th best time overall and the
fastest of the independent drivers was Stefano D’Aste.
Chevrolet drivers Robert Huff and Alain
Menu posted their best lap times as the session drew to an
end, claiming 9th and 11th spots respectively – a good
improvement on this morning’s results.
Peugeot still appear to have difficulties finding the pace
as Eric Hélary’s best time was the 25th quickest
overall.
QUALIFYING – VIRTUAL POLE FOR JÖRG MÜLLER
In a very close qualifying session Jörg Müller
set the best time and a new lap record of 1:31.772. However,
due to the implementation of a suspended penalty he incurred
at Spa, he will begin Race 1 from 11th on the gird. This gives
pole position to James Thompson of Alfa Romeo while his team-mate
and last year’s pole occupier, Augusto Farfus joins
him on the front row, their times were just 0.154 and 0.177
of a second off that of Jörg’s.
Andy Priaulx ensured it wasn’t to be an Alfa Romeo
1-2-3 start tomorrow by using his last lap to set a time of
1:32.053. This secures him 3rd position on the grid at the
wheel of his BMW Team UK car. Gabriele Tarquini will be right
behind him in 4th place.
SEAT cars occupy 5th, 6th and 7th positions
with Rickard Rydell, Stéphane Ortelli and Peter Terting
setting times within 0.220 seconds of each other. Jordi Gené
claimed 9th spot at the wheel of the new León, with
the BMW of Dirk Müller in 8th position splitting the
SEAT squad.
Despite good performances in practice, Michael Funke was
unable to make the top-ten in qualifying and will start the
race 16th on the grid. His Ford Hotfiel Sport team-mate Thomas
Klenke had more success and his time of 1:32.717 means a 10th
place start – the best yet for Ford.
Alain Menu was the fastest of the Chevrolets,
0.992 of a second off Jörg’s pace so he will begin
the race from 13th. The Peugeot 407 driven by Eric Hélary
did not manage to set a competitive time, resulting in position
27 on the grid. Proteam Motorsport’s Giuseppe Cirò
completed the best lap of the independent field and was 17th
fastest overall.
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