ROUNDS 11 & 12 – PORTO, PORTUGAL
QUALIFYING REPORT
Weather: sunny, with a dry track.
CHEVROLET MAKE A CLEAN SWEEP
Chevrolet couldn’t have had a better result in qualifying
after achieving a 1-2- 3. Alain Menu, Robert Huff and Nicola
Larini all posted their best times (2:06.927, 2:07.687 and
2:07.731) within seconds, towards the end of a disrupted session.
The three Chevrolets were followed by a trio of SEATs and
three BMWs. Tom Coronel will line up fourth for GR Asia ahead
of Gabriele Tarquini – who was the provisional pole
sitter for most of the session – and Yvan Muller. Reigning
champion Andy Priaulx qualified the best BMW as seventh with
a time of 2:08.574. Alongside him on the grid will be Alex
Zanardi who is followed by Jörg Müller. The German
driver saw a premature end to his outing when he crashed into
the barriers at Turn 1 where his car remained for the last
few minutes of the session.
Two separate incidents in the 45 minute session meant two
red flags. The first came with 20 minutes remaining: James
Thompson hit the exit of the paddock chicane which tore most
of the front right of his car off. Remarkably, despite crossing
the line on just three wheels, the Briton set his best lap
of 2:08.939 which placed him tenth on the grid.
The second accident also happened at the chicane when Tiago
Monteiro touched the inside of the entrance and then hit the
armco on the inside which set the car spinning. When his SEAT
León had been removed Chevrolet began their attack.
Menu posted a 2:07.349, Larini then slotted in second only
to be demoted to third by Huff. While Huff attempted to go
better on the next lap he made a mistake at turn one and crashed.
Menu was successful in his attempt to improve and broke the
2 minute 7 second barrier.
The session ended with a dramatic clash between Roberto Colciago’s
SEAT and Félix Porteiro’s from BMW. On the exit
of turn 16 Colciago was on his last flying lap and hit the
back of the BMW that was slowing down. The result was that
both cars spun and crashed into separate walls. The SEAT was
in flames moments later but Colciago came out of the car unscathed.
A previous lap by the Italian was good enough to make him
fastest of the Independents and 11th overall.
BULLET NEWS
PRACTICE 1: CORONEL CHASES MENU
Menu topped the times in an eventful session with a lap in
2:11.405. Red flags were deployed with 7 minutes remaining
after a couple of drivers hit the tyres at the paddock chicane.
Coronel set the second best time of 2:11.793, 0.150 second
fasters than Huff. Monteiro and Muller were 4th and 5th (1:12.181
and 1:12.269).
PRACTICE 2: TARQUINI IMPROVES
Menu continued his domination by posting the best time of
2:08.460. Second fastest was Tarquini who, on his last lap,
clocked a 2:09.066, ousting Coronel to third. On Gené’s
exit of the pit lane his bonnet flapped open, so he had to
pull over and place it back into position. Halfway into the
session, Magalhães made a mistake at turn 13 and crashed
into the barrier.
RICKARD RYDELL IS BACK
Rickard Rydell made his first appearance in this year’s
FIA WTCC, although only as a guest. The Swedish driver, who
will join Chevrolet for the next meeting in Anderstorp, visited
his new team. “I’m happy to breath the WTCC air
again. And I’m looking forward to drive in my home race,”
he said.
THEY SAID, THEY SAID…
Alain MENU
“I like this track. It’s challenging and the
fast corners and quick changes of direction suit the Chevrolet.
It’s certainly not an easy track. After the first red
flag I hit a wall lightly but it meant my car wasn’t
quite right. So when the second red flags came out it was
a chance for the team to make sure everything was working
well and afterwards I did my best times.”
Robert HUFF
“I’m very pleased to be on the front row because
I’ve had a difficult start to the season. After my fastest
lap I tried to go quicker again and pushed in the first sector
because I’ve been fast there all weekend. However, it
was not meant to be. On street circuits a small mistake can
have big consequences.”
Nicola LARINI
“The team has done a great job today. My car is improving
race by race and that’s a good feeling. We have a really
strong team and the 1-2-3 is the result. Overtaking shouldn’t
be a problem in the races because there a couple of points
on the track where it is possible.”
Tom CORONEL
“This is a street fight and I think I’m good
at that. The free practices went well so I knew the car and
I had the potential to be top eight. Qualifying on the second
row is more than I could have expected. A couple of times
I had to abort a fast lap because of traffic but I didn’t
get frustrated I just kept aiming for top eight.”
Roberto COLCIAGO
“I am frustrated because I couldn’t make a flying
lap all session. On my last lap I was going fast but on the
last corner I found Porteiro going really slow. I thought
he’d move but he just didn’t and because he was
going so slow I had nowhere to go…I couldn’t even
brake because he was there.”
QUALIFYING
POS NO CL DRIVER NAT CAR TIME LAPS GAP KPH
1 8 Alain MENU SUI Chevrolet Lacetti 2:06.927 10 133.87
2 6 Robert HUFF GBR Chevrolet Lacetti 2:07.687 11 0.760 133.07
3 7 Nicola LARINI ITA Chevrolet Lacetti 2:07.731 9 0.804 133.03
4 20 Tom CORONEL NED SEAT Leon 2:07.758 18 0.831 133.00
5 11 Gabriele TARQUINI ITA SEAT Leon 2:07.842 8 0.915 132.91
6 12 Yvan MULLER FRA SEAT Leon 2:08.006 13 1.079 132.74
7 1 Andy PRIAULX GBR BMW 320si 2:08.574 13 1.647 132.15
8 4 Alessandro ZANARDI ITA BMW 320si 2:08.598 17 1.671 132.13
9 2 Jorg MULLER GER BMW 320si 2:08.715 12 1.788 132.01
10 15 James THOMPSON GBR Alfa Romeo 156 2:08.939 8 2.012 131.78
11 19 I Roberto COLCIAGO ITA SEAT Leon 2:09.053 14 2.126 131.66
12 3 Augusto FARFUS BRA BMW 320si 2:09.439 16 2.512 131.27
13 26 I Stefano D'ASTE ITA BMW 320si 2:09.474 10 2.547 131.23
14 23 I Pierre-Yves CORTHALS BEL SEAT Leon 2:09.579 11 2.652
131.13
15 10 Michel JOURDAIN MEX SEAT Leon 2:09.652 12 2.725 131.05
16 5 Felix PORTEIRO ESP BMW 320si 2:09.670 14 2.743 131.04
17 9 Jordi GENE ESP SEAT Leon 2:09.757 11 2.830 130.95
18 30 I Luca RANGONI ITA BMW 320si 2:09.855 14 2.928 130.85
19 21 I Emmet O'BRIEN IRL SEAT Leon 2:10.787 14 3.860 129.92
20 22 I Maurizio CERESOLI ITA SEAT Leon 2:11.257 14 4.330
129.45
21 18 Tiago MONTEIRO POR SEAT Leon 2:11.807 7 4.880 128.91
22 31 I Sergio HERNANDEZ ESP BMW 320si 2:12.411 12 5.484 128.32
23 16 Olivier TIELEMANS NED Alfa Romeo 156 2:12.921 7 5.994
127.83
24 33 I Miguel FREITAS POR Alfa Romeo 156 2:13.547 8 6.620
127.23
25 77 I Luis Pedro MAGALHAES POR SEAT Leon 2:14.531 14 7.604
126.30
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