ROUNDS 7 & 8 PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING
Weather: sunny and hot, with a dry track.
FORMER FOOTBALL ACE MASSARO PATRON OF IMOLA RACES
Daniele Massaro, former football ace, is the patron of the
FIA WTCC at Imola. 44 year old from Monza, Massaro was one
of the most successful Italian players in the Eighties and
Nineties. A midfielder for Fiorentina and Milan, with the
latter team he won the Italian Championship four times and
the Champions League twice. He also achieved 15 caps with
the Italian National Team. Since the end of his football career,
Massari competed in a number of rallies and races, and in
Imola, he will take part in the Trofeo Maserati race in a
Sportitaliabacked car. He then will join the drivers for the
autograph session in the paddock at 10.30 am.
PRACTICE 1: GIOVANARDI IS FASTEST
Within the first five minutes Priaulx, Dirk Müller and
Giovanardi had set a fastest lap. The latter remained at the
top and improved his best lap three times, with the fastest
being 1:59.406. Rydell’s last lap was his fastest, promoting
him to second spot (0.730 seconds slower than Giovanardi)
while Farfus and Gené set the third and fourth fastest
times lately in the session. BMW’s Dirk Müller,
García and Jörg Müller were fifth, sixth
and seventh respectively. Positions 2 (Rydell) to 12 (Thompson)
were all within 9 tenths. Nicola Larini was the best of the
Chevrolets in 16th place, 2.405 seconds off the pace, and
Klenke headed the Ford’s - 22nd best overall. His team-mate
Jäger only managed to complete 4 laps due to engine problems.
Tavano looked set to secure the quickest of the Independents’
times until, with four minutes remaining, De Michelli completed
a lap of 2:00.987 in his Honda Accord. This was also the best
time out of the Superturismo competitors, demoting Zanardi
to second. De Micheli’s performance matched his team-mate
Colciago’s (eighth overall), proving that JAS Motorsport
Hondas can compete with the works cars.
PRACTICE 2 – DRASTIC IMPROVEMENT FOR FORD
Tarquini started as fastest but was demoted to second by
team-mate Giovanardi half way through the session. In the
opening minutes, Tarquini had set a time of 2:00.444 which
remained at the top until Giovanardi posted a 1:59.880, half-asecond
faster than the rest of the field. Subsequently Tarquini spun
at Rivazza and was unable to rejoin. SEAT Sport’s Plato
was among the quickest for the entire session with his best
lap being just 0.641 seconds behind the top time, he claimed
third spot. García was sixth fastest overall and best
of the BMW cars while team-mate Zanardi set his best time
with three minutes remaining, topping the Italian Superturismo
field for a brilliant 9th place overall. Ford just missed
out on a top ten slot with Jäger posting the 11th fastest
lap of the session, 1.415 seconds behind the best lap, a drastic
improvement in performance after an engine change that solved
the problems of the first session. Coronel emerged as the
fastest independent and ranked 12th overall.
QUALIFYING – ALFA ON POLE, AHEAD OF BMW AND
SEAT
Fabrizio Giovanardi proved the fastest man in Imola, claiming
his second consecutive pole position after that in last year’s
FIA ETCC. In all the sessions the Alfa Romeo man was half
a second faster than the rest of the field, and in qualifying
he went to top of the timesheet in the early stages, clocking
a time of 1:59.132 and demoting his team-mate Augusto Farfus
who had set a provisional pole with a lap in 1:59.577. He
managed to drastically improve his time within the final five
minutes to ensure he remained there. His best lap was 1:58.573
– over half a second ahead of Antonio García’s
best time for second place. Jordi Gené looked as though
he would begin tomorrow’s first race in second place
until the BMW Team Italy-Spain driver, García set a
time just 0.158 seconds quicker on his last lap. The qualifying
session ended with drivers from three different Manufacturers
– Alfa Romeo, BMW and SEAT – at the top. Andy
Priaulx spun at Villeneuve half way into the session but rejoined
and jumped from twelfth to sixth on his last lap. Farfus and
Gabriele Tarquini occupy fourth and fifth places respectively.
However the latter will be dropped by ten places on the grid,
due to the penalty for the incident with Terting at Silverstone.
Roberto Colciago continued to impress by qualifying seventh
in his JAS Motorsport Honda Accord, while his team-mate Adriano
De Micheli was the fastest of both, the Independents Trophy
and the Italian Superturismo Championship, as well as qualifying
12th overall. Alain Menu qualified 17th, the best of the Chevrolet
drivers and 1.977 seconds slower than Giovanardi. Ford drivers,
Thomas Klenke and Thomas Jäger were 26th and 27th quickest.
However, the latter will start from the back of the grid due
to an engine change occurred in the morning, between the free
practice sessions.
ROUNDS 7 & 8 QUALIFYING QUOTES
Fabrizio GIOVANARDI, Alfa Romeo Racing Team –
pole position
“I have a great connection with this circuit; I have
gained pole positions and won races here in the past. I have
a fantastic car here today as I did in Silverstone, so considering
I am starting from the pole I am very confident for tomorrow.
I have worked a lot on how to get the best out of my car and
I seem to have found it, so hope it continues for the rest
of the season.”
Antonio GARCÍA, BMW Team Italy-Spain –
2nd fastest
“Things have improved greatly for the team since last
year. Then we were two seconds off the pace whereas now we
are just half a second slower. We were competitive in Monza
and Magny-Cours, however not as much in Silverstone. It looks
like we are back again and I think it will be a really good
race tomorrow. I will hope for a good start and then the first
few laps will be interesting.”
Jordi GENÉ, SEAT Sport – 3rd fastest
"I knew it was very close between me and García.
I am quite happy with third because my aim was to start in
front of the pack. I think we’re more than capable of
taking second place but it’ll be tough to win; Giovanardi
was very fast today and it will be difficult to catch him
tomorrow. But, in general, I’m pleased with the car
and my set-up; today has been a good day and I think all the
indications for tomorrow for the entire team are very positive.”
Adriano DE MICHELI, JAS Motorsport – 12th fastest
"I’m so happy! We see now the results of having
more experience and more track time. We knew that it would
be though at the beginning, because we hadn’t tested
before the start of the season. Because of this we always
have to spend the first free practice getting our bearings.
Today it also helped having knowledge of the track. And I
should say that this good result left me with a sour taste
in my mouth, because I made a mistake while on my third set
of fresh tyres. Otherwise I could have improved by one tenth
and moved to fifth or sixth.”
Alain MENU, Chevrolet – 18th fastest
“I did a good lap. I kept myself back a bit for my
third set of tyres and then attacked everywhere I could. On
my fastest lap I outbraked myself in the chicane, but I don’t
think I lost much time there. Other than that the car still
has too much understeer in the slow and medium corners, but
all in all I’m happy with my afternoon.”
Thomas JÄGER, Ford Hotfiel Sport – 27
th fastest
“Unfortunately we didn’t achieve the same results
as we did in the second practice session, when I was 11th
fastest. The track felt different after the GT qualifying,
I didn’t get a perfect lap and this resulted in a lower
position. Also, the other works teams can step up the pace
by a second or two for qualifying whereas our set-up is the
same throughout the day, and this is something we are working
on. The time we achieved in second practice showed what we
are capable of when everything works.”
Carlos MASTRETTA, GR Asia – 31st fastest
“The team have been very professional and helpful
in increasing my speed. The car felt much better in qualifying
than in the practice sessions so I am hoping that it will
go even faster during the races. We have achieved what we
wanted to do today, which was to learn as much as possible.
I didn’t know the track and have never driven a front
wheel car before, but the SEAT is such a great car and I am
learning with every lap I do.”
1 6 Fabrizio GIOVANARDI ITA Alfa Romeo 156 1:58.573 8 149.77
2 5 Antonio GARCIA ESP BMW 320i 1:59.159 11 0.586 149.03
3 9 Jordi GENE ESP SEAT Toledo Cupra 1:59.317 9 0.744 148.83
4 7 Augusto FARFUS JR. BRA Alfa Romeo 156 1:59.377 7 0.804
148.76
5 2 Gabriele TARQUINI ITA Alfa Romeo 156 1:59.594 9 1.021
148.49
6 1 Andy PRIAULX GBR BMW 320i 1:59.630 10 1.057 148.44
7 26 Roberto COLCIAGO ITA Honda Accord Euro R 1:59.659 11
1.086 148.41
8 10 Peter TERTING GER SEAT Toledo Cupra 1:59.670 6 1.097
148.39
9 43 Dirk MULLER GER BMW 320i 1:59.685 10 1.112 148.38
10 3 James THOMPSON GBR Alfa Romeo 156 1:59.685 10 1.112 148.38
11 8 Rickard RYDELL SWE SEAT Toledo Cupra 1:59.716 9 1.143
148.34
12 27 I Adriano DE MICHELI ITA Honda Accord Euro R 1:59.721
11 1.148 148.33
13 11 Jason PLATO GBR SEAT Toledo Cupra 2:00.186 8 1.613 147.76
14 42 Jorg MULLER GER BMW 320i 2:00.283 10 1.710 147.64
15 4 Alessandro ZANARDI ITA BMW 320i 2:00.319 12 1.746 147.59
16 55 I Alessandro BALZAN ITA SEAT Toledo Cupra 2:00.341 10
1.768 147.57
17 28 I Carl ROSENBLAD SWE BMW 320i 2:00.479 9 1.906 147.40
18 23 Alain MENU SUI Chevrolet Lacetti 2:00.550 12 1.977 147.31
19 30 I Stefano D'ASTE ITA BMW 320i 2:00.689 10 2.116 147.14
20 22 Nicola LARINI ITA Chevrolet Lacetti 2:00.871 10 2.298
146.92
21 20 I Tom CORONEL NED Seat Toledo Cupra 2:01.036 12 2.463
146.72
22 21 Robert HUFF GBR Chevrolet Lacetti 2:01.072 11 2.499
146.68
23 31 I Giuseppe CIRO ITA BMW 320i 2:01.108 11 2.535 146.63
24 51 I Salvatore TAVANO ITA Alfa Romeo 156 2:01.189 12 2.616
146.53
25 14 Thomas KLENKE GER Ford Focus 2:01.259 11 2.686 146.45
26 32 I Marc HENNERICI GER BMW 320i 2:01.526 9 2.953 146.13
27 15 Thomas JAGER GER Ford Focus 2:02.042 11 3.469 145.51
28 52 I Andrea LARINI ITA Alfa Romeo 156 2:02.110 10 3.537
145.43
29 53 I Gianluca DE LORENZI ITA BMW 320i 2:02.336 6 3.763
145.16
30 54 I Stefano VALLI RSM BMW 320i 2:02.639 12 4.066 144.80
31 18 I Carlos MASTRETTA MEX Seat Toledo Cupra 2:02.806 13
4.233 144.60
32 36 I Sascha PLODERL AUT Ford Focus ST170 2:05.418 5 6.845
141.59
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