ROUNDS 11 & 12 – PORTO, PORTUGAL
TESTING REPORT
Weather: sunny, with a dry track.
MENU TOPS FRIDAY TESTING
With a last impressive lap, Alain Menu set the fastest
time during today’s test session on Porto’s Circuito
da Boavista. The Chevrolet man clocked a 2:10.007 just before
the chequered flag, inflicting two seconds to Yvan Muller
and the rest of the field.
The first part of the session was led by Menu’s team-mate
Nicola Larini, who set a provisional fastest time of 2:17.560
on his first flying lap, which he immediately improved to
2:12.986. Halfway through the session, Miguel Freitas’
Alfa Romeo hit the plastic barriers at the chicane in front
of the pits, causing the session being interrupted by the
red flag.
When the test resumed, Menu moved on top of the time sheet,
clocking a 2:12.900 with ten minutes left. But only a few
seconds later the Swiss was ousted by Yvan Muller’s
2:12.034 that remained the fastest lap until Menu improved
again. Jörg Müller emerged as the best of the BMW
men, setting the third fastest lap (2:12.175) immediately
ahead of Andy Priaulx (2:12.879). Local hero Tiago Monteiro
was 6th fastest, between Larini and Tom Coronel. Sergio Hernández
set the pace in the Independents’ class; he clocked
the 8th best lap overall towards the end of the session, immediately
before hitting the wall at Turn 10 and damaging the front
left suspension of his BMW. Some parts of the track proved
to be slippery and tricky, misleading the drivers. Turn 12
resulted as the most difficult point, as a few cars –
Huff’s, J. Müller’s, D’Aste’s,
Larini’s, Zanardi’s and Corthals’ –
missed the braking point and went straight. However they all
rejoined.
THEY SAID, THEY SAID
… Alain MENU
“We put new tyres on and I push harder, which explains
why I improved so much although I slowed down in the sector
were the yellow flags were waved. It doesn’t take much
time to me to learn a new track.”
Yvan MULLER
“This track is really interesting, but you must be very
careful, because it’s easy to make a mistake and crash.”
Jörg MÜLLER
“I like the track, but the grip changes dastically from
point to point. One of the crucial parts is Turn 12, a slow
bend. If you are fast there you are much faster on the following
straight.” 2007 FIA World Touring Car Championship
PRIVATE TESTING
POS NO CL DRIVER NAT CAR TIME LAPS GAP KPH
1 8 Alain MENU SUI Chevrolet Lacetti 2:10.007 12 130.70
2 12 Yvan MULLER FRA SEAT Leon 2:12.034 12 2.027 128.69
3 2 Jorg MULLER GER BMW 320si 2:12.175 11 2.168 128.55
4 1 Andy PRIAULX GBR BMW 320si 2:12.879 12 2.872 127.87
5 7 Nicola LARINI ITA Chevrolet Lacetti 2:12.986 10 2.979
127.77
6 18 Tiago MONTEIRO POR SEAT Leon 2:13.092 11 3.085 127.67
7 20 Tom CORONEL NED SEAT Leon 2:13.179 12 3.172 127.58
8 31 I Sergio HERNANDEZ ESP BMW 320si 2:13.205 7 3.198 127.56
9 3 Augusto FARFUS BRA BMW 320si 2:13.246 12 3.239 127.52
10 6 Robert HUFF GBR Chevrolet Lacetti 2:13.506 12 3.499 127.27
11 19 I Roberto COLCIAGO ITA SEAT Leon 2:13.564 10 3.557 127.22
12 11 Gabriele TARQUINI ITA SEAT Leon 2:13.978 11 3.971 126.82
13 4 Alessandro ZANARDI ITA BMW 320si 2:14.455 11 4.448 126.37
14 30 I Luca RANGONI ITA BMW 320si 2:14.613 10 4.606 126.22
15 21 I Emmet O'BRIEN IRL SEAT Leon 2:14.646 11 4.639 126.19
16 15 James THOMPSON GBR Alfa Romeo 156 2:15.221 11 5.214
125.66
17 9 Jordi GENE ESP SEAT Leon 2:15.488 11 5.481 125.41
18 5 Felix PORTEIRO ESP BMW 320si 2:16.010 12 6.003 124.93
19 26 I Stefano D'ASTE ITA BMW 320si 2:16.218 10 6.211 124.74
20 10 Michel JOURDAIN MEX SEAT Leon 2:17.270 11 7.263 123.78
21 23 I Pierre-Yves CORTHALS BEL SEAT Leon 2:18.245 10 8.238
122.91
22 22 I Maurizio CERESOLI ITA SEAT Leon 2:19.250 11 9.243
122.02
23 16 Olivier TIELEMANS NED Alfa Romeo 156 2:20.554 8 10.547
120.89
24 77 I Luis Pedro MAGALHAES POR SEAT Leon 2:21.167 10 11.160
120.36
25 33 I Miguel FREITAS POR Alfa Romeo 156 28:14.774 2 26:04.767
10.02
|
