ROUNDS 19 & 20 QUALIFYING QUOTES
Andy PRIAULX, BMW Team UK – fastest
“It’s fantastic. The car has been great form
the very first drive yesterday. In qualifying I had a good
rhythm and new tyres so I pushed for a fast time. It really
paid off because it was only the guys who were confident enough
to push straight away who managed to post quick times before
all the accidents occurred. My lap was nearly perfect, I went
for it and I had a great slipstream so I’m not sure
if could have been any better. However, I was not confident
enough to get out of my car and finish the session early.
My position is probably now a little better than the other
title contenders (Dirk Müller and Giovanardi) and I hope
to finish Race 1 in the top two positions to grab big points.
We must remember the reverse grid however and this is where
things get serious. Traffic, the safety car, blind corners,
these and many more things mean that things won’t be
easy for me out there. I am very happy the WTCC has come to
Macau. This type of circuit can make or break a driver so
I think it’s important to drive here in order to increase
your skill. The circuit is controversial but it is great for
the viewers and spectators and so far it has been good to
me.”
André COUTO, Alfa Romeo Racing Team –
2nd fastest
“At the beginning of this event things were not easy
because I had no experience in the Alfa Romeo 156. I was struggling
to be quick and perhaps I was being too conservative and conscious
of safety. In qualifying however I pushed hard, perhaps too
hard because I hit the wall. I have to say it is an honour
to be driving for Alfa Romeo, especially considering I am
in the front row in my home event of Macau.”
Augusto FARFUS, Alfa Romeo Racing Team – 3rd
fastest
“There were so many accidents my last chance for an
even faster lap was on the very last one. But it was not to
be because Paul Poon braked in front of me and although I
tried, I couldn’t avoid him. It is my first time here
and I am still learning all the corners. I am having great
fun. It’s a good track, very fast, very tight and unforgiving
if you make a mistake. I think I will wait until Sunday evening
to say whether I like it though! In terms of the championship,
my teammate Fabrizio (Giovanardi) will need luck, considering
it is so hard to overtake. Of course I will be supporting
Alfa Romeo and I want us to win but all I know is I will do
my best and I have to race for myself.”
Dirk MÜLLER, BMW Team Deutschland – 6th
fastest
“We knew before we went out that it was going to be
a gamble and for me it didn’t pay off. However, I know
I could have gone much faster if I had not been in traffic.
I think there was come careless driving by others and that
cost me some time on a couple of laps. After that it was chaos.
On the last lap I was going really well on new tyres but again
the red flags came out so I had a lot of potential I couldn’t
show. We are still trying to work on the car and sixth place
is almost as good as second at Macau. I expect there to be
a lot of yellow flags so the field will bunch together. For
the championship, I think it is looking quite good.”
Fabrizio GIOVANARDI, Alfa Romeo Racing Team –9th
fastest
“Macau is Macau and today we have seen that everyhing
could happen here! Therefore I feel in the same position as
Dirk (Müller); nothing is lost yet. However I have to
say that Andy (Priaulx) managed to be very fast and moved
a big step towards the title. Unless he’s hit by bad
luck on Sunday, is difficult to imagine him losing the championship.
I could have been faster, but I have to blame my two incidents
in practice that I wasn’t. The team worked very well
to repair my car, but they had to do it in a hurry and the
final result was a car a bit out of balance. They will change
something tomorrow and hopefully we will be more competitive
on Sunday.”
|
