ROUNDS 15 & 16 QUALIFYING QUOTES
Gabriele TARQUINI, Alfa Romeo Racing Team –
fastest
“The track seems to suit the car. We made a simulation
at home which has worked well and the gear ratios and set-up
was very good for me. I had to wait while the mechanics fixed
a problem with oil coming from my gear box. This left me with
15 minutes on the track but it was enough. The first lap was
very good, but not perfect because I made a mistake. However,
the following lap was great so I was able to take pole. I
was ready in the pits with new tyres in case I needed to go
back out because I was conscious there was every chance that
one of my team-mates would go faster than me. This didn’t
happen so I have managed to save my second set of tyres for
tomorrow.”
James THOMPSON, Alfa Romeo Racing Team – 2nd
fastest
“It’s been a fantastic result so far for the
team, the car works very well here. The story of the championship
seems to be that some manufacturers get on well at particular
circuits while the others have to play catch-up all weekend.
In this case our cars have worked exceptionally well straight
away and it was just a fight between ourselves. I think Istanbul
Park is a fantastic circuit and a great place to drive. It
will be nicer when it has had a few more races because it
is still slightly dirty off the race line. The long straights
and good track width should provide some great racing tomorrow
with a lot of overtaking potential. Most of the circuits are
new to me this year and out of the all of them this has been
my favourite one to learn.”
Augusto FARFUS, Alfa Romeo Racing Team – 3rd
fastest
“I had a few problems with my car this morning and
so we tried different changes with the set-up. In the practices
I was fighting just to get a good pace but in qualifying I
was fighting for pole so what we changed worked. I tried my
best and looking at the times it’s really close so I
am happy. The most important thing is we have four cars at
the front and I hope it is a good race for Alfa Romeo. BMW
may not be starting at the front of the grid but in the race
I think they will be strong towards the end. The final laps
will be hard for us but I want to keep ahead for the entire
race.”
Stéphane ORTELLI, Team Oreca Playstation –
5th fastest
“My qualifying position is one better than in Oschersleben
but this track is more difficult because is longer, and the
difference new tyres make is not as significant. If you look
at my results from this morning I was not expecting to be
behind all the Alfas but I can’t complain. I am very
happy and positive. I’m sure tomorrow will be an exciting
race because the track is wide enough for overtaking. I passed
some Alfas in the Oschersleben races so I see no reason why
this can’t happen again in Istanbul.”
Peter TERTING, SEAT Sport – 6th fastest
“That was not so bad! It’s important here to
get a ‘tow’ from the car in front and all of us
were trying really hard to do that; it was difficult but I
think that, for me, it was okay. I’ll try to hold position
in Race 1 and stay in the top six and then see what I can
do in Race 2, but the second race is always harder and more
risky and the important thing for all of us this weekend is
to score some points. It’s been difficult to find the
right set-up, but I think the performance is okay now.”
Andy PRIAULX, BMW Team UK – 7th fastest
“I’m really happy with my best lap because I
had a good slipstream and made no mistakes, you can only go
as fast as the machinery you have. At the moment the track
does seem to favour the front wheel drive cars in qualifying
conditions. I’m just hoping the consistency of the BMWs
over the whole race will help us. We have some tyre problems
we need to work on but we will see tomorrow because with lots
of overtaking and the reverse grid anything can happen.”
Adriano DE MICHELI, JAS Motorsport – 11th fastest
“I have to say we were quite expecting this pole position
in the Independent Trophy, because after the last races in
Oschersleben we have seen that we can easily be at the top,
as our car is really good. Obviously we are quite happy to
be so high up the time sheet, and we are eager to fight with
some of the works cars. It’s a new track, and we are
still working to finalize the set-up.”
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