ROUNDS 9 & 10 – BRNO, CZECH REPUBLIC QUALIFYING
REPORT
Weather: sunny intervals, with a cool wind and a dry track.
FIRST POLE FOR FÉLIX PORTEIRO
In a session that was decided in the very last seconds, Félix
Porteiro secured his and BMW Team Italy-Spain’s first
pole. The young Spaniard clocked a 2:11.584 on his last lap
which was three tenths faster than the rest. In fact, all
the BMW drivers waited until the dying seconds before mounting
their attacks. Andy Priaulx will start alongside Porteiro
with a qualifying time of 2:11.949 making him second best,
while Alessandro Zanardi (2:12.145) inherited third place
from Jörg Müller, whose best lap time (2:12.042)
was disallowed as it was set under yellow flags. The same
fate hit Augusto Farfus who had posted the sixth fastest qualifying
time. Müller and Farfus slipped therefore to 7th and
9th respectively.
Jordi Gené looked to have secured the first pole of
the season to SEAT when he set a 2:12.376 with thirteen minutes
remaining. He then returned to the pits and had to watch as
the events that unfolded eventually demoted him to fourth.
Independent driver Pierre-Yves Corthals set a stunning 2:12.607
for Exagon Racing placing himself fifth on the grid. Alain
Menu of Chevrolet split Corthals and his close Independents’
Trophy rival Luca Rangoni.
Gabriele Tarquini rounded of the top ten by achieving a time
of 2:12.837. The N.technology Alfa Romeo team got their best
time courtesy of James Thompson’s 2:13.101 which mean
he will line up 14th on the grid.
The only casualties of the session were Davide Roda who went
off into the gravel at turn 5 and Emmet O’Brien who
did the same at turn 11 at the end of the session. As for
Miguel Freitas, he was the only driver not to take part in
the session due to engine problems.
BULLET NEWS
PRACTICE 1: PORTEIRO ON TOP
Félix Porteiro emerged as the quickest; at the wheel
of his BMW 320si he clocked a 2:13.457 in the early stages
of the session. Priaulx achieved the second best time which
was 0.93 of a second off; Tarquini was third fastest with
a 2:13.755. Rangoni was the best independent and fourth overall.
PRACTICE 2: BEST LAP FOR THOMPSON
James Thompson set the fastest time at 2:13.857 with 7 minutes
to go. Jörg Müller (2:13.934) and Tarquini (2:13.954)
followed with gaps of 0.077 and 0.097 seconds respectively.
Independent competitor Pedalà set the fourth best time
overall, with fellow independent driver Corthals 7th overall.
TOUGH APPRENTICESHIP FOR NEWCOMERS
On their maiden appearance in the 2007 FIA WTCC, Davide Roda
and Philip Geipel are experiencing a tough apprenticeship.
The Proteam Motorsport’s Italian ended all practice
and qualifying sessions in the gravel trap, after making a
couple of spins in the first one. Geipel and his Toyota Corolla
also prematurely finished the second session in the gravel.
On top of that Geipel was fined 500 euros for a pit lane infringement.
THEY SAID, THEY SAID…
Félix PORTEIRO
“I was first in this morning’s practice, so I
knew the car was competitive and thought I could be make the
top three. I’m very happy to be on pole. My ballast
is a lot less compared to the other drivers behind me and
to be honest I think that’s what made the difference.
There will be some pressure on me leading the rolling start
tomorrow but I’m not fighting for the championship so
I have nothing to lose, plus, there are fellow BMWs behind
me so there shouldn’t be trouble.”
Andy PRIAULX
“I didn’t expect to be second. Top eight was
what we were aiming for so with this in mind it was a good
qualifying session. We tested here over the winter and the
grip was excellent, however, today it was bad. I managed to
get three good laps with new tyres though. Félix has
the pace to win tomorrow while I am looking to score good
points.”
Jörg MÜLLER
“Good laps always come at the end of a session partly
because there is less traffic. This was certainly the case
here because I waited right until the end. On my second set
of new tyres my attempt at a fast lap didn’t come together
so on the third set I was very careful. This is why I was
slower than Andy when I should have been faster judging by
weight.”
Jordi GENÉ
“I knew that the lap I set was likely to get challenged
but I expected to remain on the first or second row. When
I look at the times the BMW squad did I don’t think
we could have achieved a better lap, especially because I
got a good tow from Gabriele on mine. Realistically it’s
going to be difficult in the race tomorrow because if the
BMWs are fast in qualifying they will also be fast during
the race. The good thing is that I have a new set of tyres
I can use in one of the races.”
Pierre-Yves CORTHALS
“I’m so happy to be in the top ten. We haven’t
done any testing, but my engineer and I managed to find a
great set-up just from the hour of practice today. My target
is to win the trophy and from this weekend I want to walk
away with more points than Rangoni who is currently two ahead
of me.”
2007 FIA World Touring Car Championship
FREE PRACTICE 1
POS NO CL DRIVER NAT CAR TIME LAPS GAP KPH
Weather/Track: Bright 17°/Dry 22°
5 Felix PORTEIRO ESP 1 BMW 320si 2:13.457 11 145.74
1 Andy PRIAULX GBR 2 BMW 320si 2:13.550 12 0.093 145.64
11 Gabriele TARQUINI ITA 3 SEAT Leon 2:13.755 10 0.298 145.42
30 Luca RANGONI ITA 4 I BMW 320si 2:13.798 10 0.341 145.37
15 James THOMPSON GBR 5 Alfa Romeo 156 2:13.903 9 0.446 145.26
10 Michel JOURDAIN MEX 6 SEAT Leon 2:13.968 10 0.511 145.19
9 Jordi GENE ESP 7 SEAT Leon 2:14.027 9 0.570 145.12
4 Alessandro ZANARDI ITA 8 BMW 320si 2:14.046 12 0.589 145.10
2 Jorg MULLER GER 9 BMW 320si 2:14.180 11 0.723 144.96
20 Tom CORONEL NED 10 SEAT Leon 2:14.470 12 1.013 144.64
12 Yvan MULLER FRA 11 SEAT Leon 2:14.526 11 1.069 144.58
34 Massimiliano PEDALA ITA 12 I SEAT Leon 2:14.557 12 1.100
144.55
18 Tiago MONTEIRO POR 13 SEAT Leon 2:14.581 9 1.124 144.52
7 Nicola LARINI ITA 14 Chevrolet Lacetti 2:14.680 9 1.223
144.42
23 Pierre-Yves CORTHALS BEL 15 I SEAT Leon 2:14.815 12 1.358
144.27
8 Alain MENU SUI 16 Chevrolet Lacetti 2:14.846 9 1.389 144.24
3 Augusto FARFUS BRA 17 BMW 320si 2:14.904 11 1.447 144.18
26 Stefano D'ASTE ITA 18 I BMW 320si 2:14.953 9 1.496 144.13
22 Maurizio CERESOLI ITA 19 I SEAT Leon 2:15.431 10 1.974
143.62
6 Robert HUFF GBR 20 Chevrolet Lacetti 2:15.771 10 2.314 143.26
16 Olivier TIELEMANS NED 21 Alfa Romeo 156 2:16.798 5 3.341
142.18
33 Miguel FREITAS POR 22 I Alfa Romeo 156 2:17.280 12 3.823
141.68
21 Emmet O'BRIEN IRL 23 I SEAT Leon 2:17.418 12 3.961 141.54
37 Philip GEIPEL GER 24 I Toyota Corolla T-Sport 2:17.546
9 4.089 141.41
32 Davide RODA ITA 25 I BMW 320si 2:21.038 10 7.581 137.91
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