ROUNDS 1 & 2 – CURITIBA, BRAZIL QUALIFYING REPORT
Weather: cloudy and hot with a dry track.
JÖRG MÜLLER GRABS POLE ON LAST LAP
Jörg Müller of BMW Team Germany claimed the first
pole position of the season.
Qualifying became the battle of the BMW men for top spot.
Jörg Müller occupied provisional pole for the majority
of the session before Andy Priaulx stole it on his last lap.
Seconds later Augusto Farfus stormed to the top but his joy
was to be short lived as Müller reclaimed pole in the
dying seconds with a lap of 1:24.769. This demoted Farfus
by just 0.055 seconds.
The BMW domination extended beyond the top three as Félix
Porteiro secured fourth place on the last lap of his first
WTCC qualifying session. Fifth and sixth places were occupied
by SEAT Sport drivers. Gabriele Tarquini posted a 1:25.173
while Yvan Muller’s best lap was 0.155 behind that;
however the Frenchman’s qualifying time was disallowed
because he cut over the grass at turn 2. In the position below
was Robert Huff from Chevrolet; his last and best lap was
1:25.479. Tom Coronel and Jordi Gené qualified eighth
and ninth while Alessandro Zanardi completed the top ten.
Alfa Romeo’s James Thompson will start from position
fifteen tomorrow. The nine fastest drivers qualified were
covered by only seven tenths.
In the Independents’ category, Pierre-Yves Corthals
from the new team Exagon Engineering, set the best time of
1:25.857 in his SEAT León. Luca Rangoni of Proteam
Motorsport posted exactly the same time but will line up behind
the Belgian, having set the time later in the session.
BULLET NEWS
UPDATE ON COLCIAGO’S CONDITIONS
Roberto Colciago spent the night in the Curitiba hospital
further to his crash in yesterday’s test session and
was discharged this morning. The Italian driver is suffering
from contusions to the ribs and from labyrinthitis that causes
him to be in a daze. The other driver involved in the crash,
Michel Jourdain, was back on the track from today’s
first session, as his SEAT León was repaired overnight.
PRACTICE 1 – J. MÜLLER ON TOP
J. Müller set his best time of 1:25.236 within the opening
minutes and it proved unbeatable; behind him were team-mate
Farfus and Y. Muller (with gaps of 0.170 and 0.316 seconds
respectively). The top 16 drivers out of the twenty who took
part in the session were all within one second. Sergio Hernández
of Proteam Motorsport was the fastest independent driver and
11th overall (1:25.928).
PRACTICE 2 – MENU AMID BMW CARS
BMW dominated the second free practice session claiming the
top 3 times. Farfus was fastest with a lap of 1:26.177, followed
by Priaulx 0.114 seconds off and Müller 0.265 slower.
An incredible 17 of the 20 drivers’ times were within
the same second. Alain Menu was the 4th quickest overall at
the wheel of his Chevrolet Lacetti. He was the only non-BMW
driver to make it into the top 6.
NEW RULES – POLE POSITION PLACE
For the rolling start of Race 1 at each event pole position
on the grid will be on the inside line.
At the standing start of Race 2, it will be situated on the
outside line. This is to ensure the man on pole has the advantage
over his competitors that he earned in qualifying.
NEW RULES – PRACTISING THE START
At every event of the 2007 season drivers are allowed to
practice their standing starts on Saturday after the end of
free practice 2. Each driver will complete a slow lap after
the chequered flag and line up on the straight where they
will be called up in pairs to take grid position and complete
a single mock start.
THEY SAID, THEY SAID…
Jörg MÜLLER “My best lap
was THE lap. I really believe there was nothing else to give
so I’m happy. The set up I had for qualifying worked
well for one lap but I wouldn’t want to drive it for
the whole race!”
Augusto FARFUS “I’m happy to
be on the front row in my first race with BMW. The pressure
is huge when I am in front of my home crowd with expectations
on my shoulders but when I get in the car and drive I forget
all about it.”
Andy PRIAULX “I am disappointed to
be third. However, I take my hat off to Jörg because
he drove a fantastic lap; he found something really special.”
Pierre-Yves CORTHALS “I am extremely
pleased to be the fastest of the Independents and also really
proud because we are a completely new team and it’s
the first time we have come to the World Touring Car Championship.”
1 2 Jorg MULLER GER BMW 320si 1:24.769 10 156.92
2 3 Augusto FARFUS BRA BMW 320si 1:24.824 10 0.055 156.81
3 1 Andy PRIAULX GBR BMW 320si 1:24.974 11 0.205 156.54
4 5 Felix PORTEIRO ESP BMW 320si 1:25.149 12 0.380 156.22
5 11 Gabriele TARQUINI ITA SEAT Leon 1:25.173 8 0.404 156.17
6 6 Robert HUFF GBR Chevrolet Lacetti 1:25.479 8 0.710 155.61
7 20 Tom CORONEL NED SEAT Leon 1:25.512 12 0.743 155.55
8 9 Jordi GENE ESP SEAT Leon 1:25.549 8 0.780 155.49
9 12 Yvan MULLER FRA SEAT Leon 1:25.739 8 0.970 155.14
10 4 Alessandro ZANARDI ITA BMW 320si 1:25.775 13 1.006 155.08
11 7 Nicola LARINI ITA Chevrolet Lacetti 1:25.820 8 1.051
154.99
12 23 I Pierre-Yves CORTHALS BEL SEAT Leon 1:25.857 9 1.088
154.93
13 30 I Luca RANGONI ITA BMW 320i 1:25.857 11 1.088 154.93
14 8 Alain MENU SUI Chevrolet Lacetti 1:25.864 11 1.095 154.91
15 15 James THOMPSON GBR Alfa Romeo 156 1:25.937 5 1.168 154.78
16 31 I Sergio HERNANDEZ ESP BMW 320i 1:25.965 11 1.196 154.73
17 10 Michel JOURDAIN MEX SEAT Leon 1:26.155 10 1.386 154.39
18 16 Olivier TIELEMANS NED Alfa Romeo 156 1:26.763 14 1.994
153.31
19 26 I Stefano D'ASTE ITA BMW 320i 1:26.765 12 1.996 153.31
20 21 I Emmet O'BRIEN IRL SEAT Leon 1:27.032 13 2.263 152.84
QUALIFICATION MAXIMA 1:30.702
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