ROUNDS 13 & 14 – ANDERSTORP, SWEDEN
QUALIFYING REPORT
Weather: rainy, with a wet track during qualifying; cloudy,
with a damp track during morning’s practice.
FIRST POLE FOR MONTEIRO AND SEAT
Tiago Monteiro claimed SEAT’s first pole position of
the season and the first for him in the WTCC at the end of
a breathtaking qualifying session that challenged men, teams
and machines to the limit. Rainfall before the start and during
the opening of the session meant the track was wet. Almost
immediately Robert Huff strayed off the track at the North
bend but rejoined. As the dying minutes saw the racing line
dry out dramatically the Briton jumped from mid-way on the
timesheet to 3rd fastest.
His Chevrolet team-mate Nicola Larini was always in the front
running and held provisional pole at various stages during
the session. With one minute left the Italian rose to the
top with a 1:50.195 which was seven tenths of a second better
than anyone else. His determination did not wane as he improved
his time by a further 0.022 of a second. It was only Monteiro
who spoilt it for the man in blue as he crossed the line with
a 1:50.056.
Fredrick Ekblom also had his sights on pole for he topped
the timesheet on two occasions. Eventually the Swede posted
the fourth best time overall and will be the leading BMW tomorrow.
Behind him on the grid will be fellow countryman Rickard Rydell
who set a 1:50.983.
Gabriele Tarquini too stood in contention for pole while
team mate Jordi Gené repeatedly set the faster first
sector time. Eventually Gené qualified sixth in the
new León TDI; one place ahead of Tarquini. James Thompson
drove his Alfa Romeo solidly to set the 10th best time and
Robert Dahlgren set the 13th in his bio-fuelled Volvo S60.
Roberto Colciago was the fastest independent and qualified
eighth. However, due to a penalty obtained in Porto, he will
line up 18th. Therefore, the Independents’ pole is handed
to Luca Rangoni who qualified 16th.
BULLET NEWS
ROSENBLAD NOT ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
Carl Rosenblad won’t be eligible to score championship
points, like his fellow countryman Robert Dahlgren.
Like Dahlgren’s Volvo S60, Rosenblad’s BMW 320si
was accepted on the basis of national homologation because
it is fitted with a 6-speed sequential gearbox, while the
model homologated by the FIA is the version with the 5- speed
“H” gearbox.
EMMET O’BRIEN SKIPS ANDERSTORP
GR Asia and Emmet O’Brien together decided to take
a one-event break and not to run the #21 SEAT León
in Anderstorp. The team and the Irish driver are currently
in negotiations to find an agreement for the remaining rounds
of the season.
THEY SAID, THEY SAID…
Tiago MONTEIRO
“In these conditions anything can happen. In the past
I have hoped for wet weather, but funnily enough after how
good the car was this morning, I wanted dry qualifying. In
the last five minutes the track dried and with some risk-taking
and a bit of luck I found a good time. I’m emotional
and very pleased to have got SEAT its first pole this season.”
Nicola LARINI
“It’s a dream to be on the front row after my
pole four years ago. Especially considering Tiago’s
car is lighter than mine. In such conditions it is very difficult
to stay on the track after the long straight but this is normal
in the wet. On my second set of tyres there was little aquaplaning
and therefore I got the best out of them. I’m hoping
for a wet race.”
Robert HUFF
“When I went out it was on a dry set-up with wet tyres
because we were hoping the conditions would clear up quickly.
I went off straight away but managed to get back on the track
with no damage. The dry line came very fast during the last
four laps and it worked well for us. If the conditions in
the race are like they were in qualifying I will be happy.”
Roberto COLCIAGO
“I’m happy for the team that we have shown our
potential by qualifying 8th. However, I will actually begin
from 18th. I won here in 2003 and it’s great to be back.
My goal is to finish the race.”
Fredrik EKBLOM
“I really enjoyed the session and it’s a fantastic
car to drive. I was really enjoying myself as I was sliding
around the long corners here. The conditions were certainly
tricky but when you are in a car as good as this one it is
all the more fun.”
Jordi GENÉ
“The diesel car is completely new and in that respect
these conditions were tricky because it took a bit longer
to change the car’s setup. With this in mind I’m
quite happy to be sixth. Tomorrow I’d certainly prefer
dry conditions.”
Robert DAHLGREN
“I was really hoping to be in the top eight. I think
we had the opportunity but we didn’t make the most of
it because when it started to dry up we had been out on our
tyres for too long and they were way too hot to do a good
time.” 2007 FIA World Touring Car Championship
QUALIFYING
POS NO CL DRIVER NAT CAR TIME LAPS GAP KPH
Cars 28 & 60 not eligible to score Championship points.
Weather/Track: Cloud 15°/Wet 18°
www.mstworld.com
Anderstorp
Circuit Length = 4.0250 km.
Start: 15:00 End: 15:30
Printed - 15:34 Saturday, 28 July 2007
Race Director: Steward: Timekeeper:
1 18 Tiago MONTEIRO POR SEAT Leon 1:50.056 15 131.66
2 7 Nicola LARINI ITA Chevrolet Lacetti 1:50.173 12 0.117
131.52
3 6 Robert HUFF GBR Chevrolet Lacetti 1:50.832 11 0.776 130.73
4 14 Fredrik EKBLOM SWE BMW 320si 1:50.922 14 0.866 130.63
5 88 Rickard RYDELL SWE Chevrolet Lacetti 1:50.983 13 0.927
130.56
6 9 Jordi GENE ESP SEAT Leon TDI 1:51.040 14 0.984 130.49
7 11 Gabriele TARQUINI ITA SEAT Leon 1:51.076 12 1.020 130.45
8 19 I Roberto COLCIAGO ITA SEAT Leon 1:51.110 14 1.054 130.41
9 20 Tom CORONEL NED SEAT Leon 1:51.215 12 1.159 130.28
10 15 James THOMPSON GBR Alfa Romeo 156 1:51.216 13 1.160
130.28
11 4 Alessandro ZANARDI ITA BMW 320si 1:51.240 15 1.184 130.25
12 5 Felix PORTEIRO ESP BMW 320si 1:51.289 14 1.233 130.20
13 60 G Robert DAHLGREN SWE Volvo S60 Flexifuel 1:51.352 14
1.296 130.12
14 12 Yvan MULLER FRA SEAT Leon TDI 1:51.477 8 1.421 129.98
15 1 Andy PRIAULX GBR BMW 320si 1:51.500 14 1.444 129.95
16 30 I Luca RANGONI ITA BMW 320si 1:51.620 15 1.564 129.81
17 8 Alain MENU SUI Chevrolet Lacetti 1:51.633 11 1.577 129.80
18 3 Augusto FARFUS BRA BMW 320si 1:51.655 15 1.599 129.77
19 10 Michel JOURDAIN MEX SEAT Leon 1:51.685 13 1.629 129.74
20 2 Jorg MULLER GER BMW 320si 1:51.740 15 1.684 129.67
21 26 I Stefano D'ASTE ITA BMW 320si 1:51.765 14 1.709 129.64
22 28 G Carl ROSENBLAD SWE BMW 320si 1:51.798 12 1.742 129.60
23 23 I Pierre-Yves CORTHALS BEL SEAT Leon 1:52.206 12 2.150
129.13
24 16 Olivier TIELEMANS NED Alfa Romeo 156 1:52.827 14 2.771
128.42
25 31 I Sergio HERNANDEZ ESP BMW 320si 1:53.131 14 3.075 128.08
26 22 I Maurizio CERESOLI ITA SEAT Leon 1:53.196 13 3.140
128.00
27 54 I Alexander LVOV RUS Honda Accord Euro R 1:54.336 5
4.280 126.73
QUALIFICATION MAXIMA 1:57.759
55 I Andrey SMETSKY RUS Honda Accord Euro R 1:59.990 10 9.934
120.76
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