ALESSANDRO ZANARDI SNATCHES POLE POSITION FOR THE FIA EUROPEAN
TOURING CAR CUP
PRACTICE 1 – FASTEST LAP FOR RYAN SHARP
Weather: overcast; track: drying
Ryan Sharp reigned in the first free practice session of
the FIA ETCC. A slippery track clearly worked well for the
Scotsman driving a GR Asia SEAT León and he posted
a 2:01.935 which was eight tenths faster than the rest of
the field. His team-mate Emmet O’Brien also proved competitive,
clocking the 5th time, just ahead of local boy Miguel Freitas.
The BMW Team Italy-Spain duo remained towards the top of
the timesheet completing the 2nd and 3rd best laps: Félix
Porteiro’s time was 0.012 of a second faster than that
of his team-mate Alessandro Zanardi. Philip Geipel drove his
Toyota Corolla T-Sport well to post the 7th best time overall.
After engine problems yesterday, the Maurer Motorsport Chevrolet
cars were back on course this morning. Hugo Godinho –
the other Portuguese in the race – and Vincent Radermecker
from Belgium clocked the 9th and 10th best laps.
The fastest man from the SP class was Alexander Lvov in his
Golden Motors Honda Civic Type-R with a time of 2:09.648 which
placed him 15th overall. Stefano Valli was in the position
below and just 0.069 of a second slower than his rival.
After seven minutes the session was disrupted when Timur
Sadredinov and Vadim Kuzminykh went off into the gravel separately
at turn 6 and the red flags were issued while the cars were
removed. On resuming, Mikhail Ukhov went off at the same spot.
After having received external aid to get back onto the track
he was not permitted to continue in the session.
PRACTICE 2 – PORTEIRO AND VALLI TOP THE TIMES
Weather: overcast; track: dry
The second free practice session saw Félix Porteiro
as fastest. The young Spaniard continued to impress and his
time of 1:49.074 was 0.578 of a second better than team-mate
Alessandro Zanardi who was second quickest. Ryan Sharp clocked
the third best time with a 1:49.714.
A pair of Swedish drivers at the wheel of BMW cars occupied
the next two spots. Robin Rudholm of West Coast Racing completed
the 4th best run followed by Carl Rosenblad. Emmet O’Brien
drove his GR Asia SEAT León round the circuit in 1:50.419
and below him on the timesheet is another duo of Swedes, Mattias
Anderson and Tomas Engström. The latter was forced to
change his Honda Accord’s engine after the first practice.
Stefano Valli took command of the SP category with a time
of 1:57.648 at the wheel of his BMW 320i. However, Andrey
Romanov’s time was a slight 0.342 of a second slower.
The track was dry for the session but despite this, some
drivers strayed from the asphalt. Mikhail Ukhov found himself
in the gravel at turn 13 while minutes later Timur Sadredinov
too ended up in gravel, this time at turn 1. However the Russian
youngster managed to set the 3rd fastest lap in the SP class.
QUALIFYING – ALEX ZANARDI ON POLE… AGAIN
Weather: overcast; track: dry
Alessandro Zanardi will line up on pole for Race 1 tomorrow.
Like last year in Vallelunga for the first edition of the
FIA ETC Cup.
The Italian hero shot to the top after 12 minutes had ticked
by with a time of 1:48.631. On the next lap he improved to
set a 1:48.453. This proved unbeatable but only just as Ryan
Sharp promoted himself to 2nd in the closing minutes. The
Scotsman’s time was a mere 0.050 of a second shy of
Zanardi’s. Newcomer to touring car racing, Félix
Porteiro, has made his mark straight away by qualifying 3rd
and just 0.086 off his BMW Team Italy-Spain team-mate’s
top time.
Things ended on a dubious note for Sharp as on his slow-down
lap his SEAT León began emitting smoke and had had
to be stopped track-side. It is thought not to be an engine
problem. Sharp’s team-mate, Emmet O’Brien, secured
4th on the grid.
Fifth through to 7th positions were occupied by BMW drivers.
Robin Rudholm from Sweden posted a 1:49.144 to slot into 5th
followed by Portuguese driver Miguel Freitas and fellow Swede
Carl Rosenblad. Tomas Engström set the 8th best time
in his Honda Accord Euro R but due to an earlier engine change
he will be dropped 10 positions.
As a result, the two Chevrolet drivers, Vincent Radermecker
and Hugo Godinho, will begin the race from 8th and 9th. Alexy
Dudukalo, who drives an Audi A4 qualified 13th but after being
issued a penalty for overtaking under red flag conditions
in Free Practice 1 he will be dropped 5 positions on the grid.
Andrey Romanov qualified 17th and ahead of his Super Production
competitors. The Avtodom Racing driver from Russia completed
a lap in 1:56.845 which was over a second and a half quicker
than 2nd SP qualifier Alexander Lvov, also from Russia. The
battle to be third in the class was won by Estonian Raimo
Kulli but he only bettered Timur Sadredinov by 0.013 of a
second. Stefano Valli, who looked competitive in practice
didn’t complete the entire session due to fuel feeding
system problems. Incidentally, he too was penalised 5 grid
positions for overtaking under red flag conditions in Free
Practice 1.
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