ROUNDS 9 & 10 Puebla
PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING
Weather: sunny in the morning, cloudy with a threat of rain
during the qualifying session; the track was dry.
PRACTICE 1 – THOMPSON TOP BETWEEN RED FLAGS
The first practice session at Puebla was extremely eventful
with two separate incidents resulting in red flags. The first
cause was half way into the session when Giuseppe Cirò
spun and Jörg Müller went off in avoidance; the
German’s BMW hit a concrete barrier with force and obtained
extensive damage to the front right of the car. After the
BMW had been removed, the session resumed and at this point
it was Colciago who had the fastest lap of 1:31.973.
Immediately, James Thompson of Alfa Romeo posted a time
of 1:31.302 and within a matter of seconds his teammate Farfus
jumped to second - just 0.043 of a second slower. The two
remained at the top while SEAT drivers, Jordi Gené
and Peter Terting claimed third and fifth positions respectively.
They were divided by Gabriele Tarquini.
With five minutes remaining, De Micheli also came off and
similarly to Jörg’s BMW, the Honda crashed into
a concrete barrier. Once again the red flags were issued and
the session did not resume. The top ten lap times were within
one second of each other and contain at least one car of the
five manufacturers represented at the Mexican races. Andy
Priaulx was the fastest of the BMW drivers and occupied 9th
spot – 0.819 of a second off the best time while Robert
Huff was tenth for Chevrolet. Tom Coronel had the 11th fastest
time overall and the best of the Independents.
PRACTICE 2: MASTRETTA SHINES ON HOME GROUND
It was again an Alfa Romeo that completed the fastest lap
in the second practice session but this time it was driven
by Fabrizio Giovanardi. At the opening stages, the Italian
driver clocked a time of 1:31.081 and this was good enough
to keep him at the top for the entire 30 minutes.
Thompson occupied second position until, Colciago joined
the session after 10 minutes and demoted him to third. Colciago’s
time was just 0.092 slower than that of Giovanardi. Peter
Terting was the fastest of SEAT Sport drivers and fourth overall,
while Augusto Farfus’ time of 1:31.749 made him the
final member in the top five.
In the Independents’ category, Tom Coronel was the
quickest until, with seven minutes remaining, his Mexican
team-mate Carlos Mastretta improved dramatically and posted
a lap of 1:32.342. This launched him to 11th position overall
and the top independent. Dirk Müller was the 12th quickest
for BMW and Alain Menu of Chevrolet posted the 13th best time,
with team-mate Huff just behind. Jörg Müller’s
BMW and De Micheli’s Honda did not take part in the
session, as they were extensively damaged in the crashes during
the previous session.
QUALIFYING: COLCIAGO FASTEST BUT NOT ON POLE
Roberto Colciago and Peter Terting claimed a virtual top
row for tomorrow’s Race 1. However, despite posting
the 1st and 2nd fastest times in qualifying, they will both
be demoted 10 places on the grid. For Colciago this was due
to the implementation of a suspended penalty obtained in Imola,
and for Terting it was a result of an engine change between
practice and qualifying. This meant pole position was handed
to Fabrizio Giovanardi, who will share the front row with
team mate James Thompson.
Tarquini will start third, alongside Gené, while
Rydell and Huff will share the third row. Huff’s 6th
starting position is the best result so far for Chevrolet.
Augusto Farfus and Jason Plato are also dropped 10 places
each due suspended penalties from Imola and therefore start
14th and 20th respectively. In the opening stages of the session
Thompson and Colciago battled for the top spot until, after
eight minutes, Giovanardi clocked a time of 1:30.149 which
put him at the top.
Tarquini and Gené made contact coming into a corner
and the latter came off the track, his SEAT stranded just
beyond the kerbs. This incident resulted in the first period
of three, under red flag. After resuming, Colciago topped
the time sheet once again with a lap in 1:29.830. This was
the best lap of the entire session. Within a matter of minutes,
Thompson went wide on the banked corner and hit the wall.
Once again the red flags were issued as his Alfa Romeo car
was towed away.
Terting shot to second position as the session continued.
His time was a mere 0.029 of a second slower than Colciago’s.
In the following laps, Farfus improved his times and slotted
into fourth position, demoting team-mate Thompson to fifth.
With seven minutes remaining, Larini went wide and crashed
into a concrete wall causing the red flags to be waved again.
Not all of the cars returned to the track for the final stages
of the session and none of the top positions were altered.
Tom Coronel was the best of the independent drivers and 13th
overall. Due to their crashes in the first free practice,
Jörg Muller and Adriano De Micheli missed the qualifying
session.
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