ROUNDS 21 & 22 – MACAU TESTING REPORT
Weather: sunny, with a dry track.
MENU CLOCKS FASTEST TIME IN TESTING
Alain Menu set the fastest lap around the streets of Macau
as the 32 the WTCC cars hit the track for the test session
of the final showdown. The Chevrolet driver clocked a 2:34.389
with eight minutes remaining.
Augusto Farfus was second fastest on the 6.12km circuit for
BMW Team Germany. His last lap was completed in 2:34.691 which
was 0.028 of a second better than local man André Couto’s
best effort in his N.technology Alfa Romeo 156.
Andy Priaulx who is jointly topping the championship points
was on the crest of the timesheet on three occasions but eventually
completed the fourth fastest lap (2:34.814). His BMW colleagues
Alessandro Zanardi and Jörg Müller were fifth and
sixth fastest respectively.
Co-leader of the championship, Yvan Muller headed a trio
of SEAT cars that spanned from seventh to ninth quickest.
The Frenchman drove a lap in his León in 2:35.608 while
Tom Coronel and Rickard Rydell were 0.102 and 0.213 of a second
behind him respectively. Jordi Gené crashed into the
barrier at the Reservoir bend on his first flying lap. Red
flags were displayed nine minutes into the session as his
SEAT León was removed from the track. Other casualties
of the challenging course were Russian Andrey Romanov who
went off between the Moorish Hill and Dona Maria corners mid-way
into the session local racer Ao Chi Hong who spun at the Lisboa
Bend after clashing with Duncan Huisman. Miguel Freitas also
hit the wall in the same place as Romanov at the end of the
session.
Pierre-Yves Corthals was the fastest independent driver with
a time of 2:36.717 placing him 13th overall. Luca Rangoni
of Proteam Motorsport was close to his rival in 14th while
Stefano D’Aste and Franz Engstler followed in 16th and
17th.
BULLET NEWS
NEW PROCEDURE FOR THE WTCC PRE-GRID
Due to the paddock configuration, at each session cars line-up
on a pre-grid before going on the track. Therefore, in order
to give all the title contenders the same opportunities to
clock a valid time, a special procedure has been adopted for
the WTCC Race of Macau.
Before the start of each session cars line up on the pre-grid
according to the championship positions. Therefore the first
six in line are Priaulx, Yvan Muller, Farfus, Thompson, Jörg
Müller and Larini.
A NEW ENGINE FOR CORONEL AND CORTHALS
Pierre-Yves Corthals’ hopes of clinching the Independents’
Trophy title were given a big boost after his Exagon Engineering
León was fitted with a unit of SEAT’s new engine
with a higher compression ratio: 13:1 instead of 11:1. “I
tested the car in Magny-Cours before it was shipped to Macau
and I was impressed by the engine’s torque and the acceleration,”
said the Belgian driver.
Tom Coronel of GR Asia also received the new engine and emerged
as the second fastest of all the SEAT drivers in the test.
THEY SAID, THEY SAID…
Alain MENU
“It is a good start but Macau is a very difficult circuit
and it takes a little while to get back into a rhythm here
so perhaps some drivers take longer than others. The test
was just a learning process to get used to the track again
and tomorrow is when it begins to matter.”
Augusto FARFUS
“The red flag in the middle of the session cost some
time for everybody. I am still learning the track in this
car and it is really difficult to manage but I am looking
forward to tomorrow and learning step by step to keep the
pace.”
André COUTO
“I am happy because it is very difficult to get used
to driving a touring car in Macau and I do it only once a
year. It’s always positive to have a good start so it
means tomorrow I can improve further and everything will work
well I hope.”
TESTING
POS NO CL DRIVER NAT CAR TIME LAPS GAP KPH
1 8 Alain MENU SUI Chevrolet Lacetti 2:34.389 9 142.70
2 3 Augusto FARFUS BRA BMW 320si 2:34.691 10 0.302 142.42
3 66 Andre COUTO MAC Alfa Romeo 156 2:34.719 9 0.330 142.40
4 1 Andy PRIAULX GBR BMW 320si 2:34.814 11 0.425 142.31
5 4 Alessandro ZANARDI ITA BMW 320si 2:34.902 10 0.513 142.23
6 2 Jorg MULLER GER BMW 320si 2:35.122 11 0.733 142.03
7 12 Yvan MULLER FRA SEAT Leon TDI 2:35.608 9 1.219 141.58
8 20 Tom CORONEL NED SEAT Leon 2:35.710 10 1.321 141.49
9 88 Rickard RYDELL SWE SEAT Leon 2:35.821 8 1.432 141.39
10 6 Robert HUFF GBR Chevrolet Lacetti 2:35.863 9 1.474 141.35
11 7 Nicola LARINI ITA Chevrolet Lacetti 2:36.566 8 2.177
140.72
12 15 James THOMPSON GBR Alfa Romeo 156 2:36.579 9 2.190 140.70
13 23 I Pierre-Yves CORTHALS BEL SEAT Leon 2:36.717 10 2.328
140.58
14 30 I Luca RANGONI ITA BMW 320si 2:37.056 9 2.667 140.28
15 25 Duncan HUISMAN NED BMW 320si 2:37.072 9 2.683 140.26
16 26 I Stefano D'ASTE ITA BMW 320si 2:37.179 10 2.790 140.17
17 43 I Franz ENGSTLER GER BMW 320i 2:37.313 8 2.924 140.05
18 11 Gabriele TARQUINI ITA SEAT Leon TDI 2:38.389 7 4.000
139.10
19 5 Felix PORTEIRO ESP BMW 320si 2:38.484 10 4.095 139.01
20 18 Tiago MONTEIRO POR SEAT Leon 2:38.990 10 4.601 138.57
21 14 Fredrik EKBLOM SWE BMW 320si 2:39.150 9 4.761 138.43
22 10 Michel JOURDAIN MEX SEAT Leon 2:40.117 9 5.728 137.59
23 27 Colin TURKINGTON GBR BMW 320si 2:40.352 9 5.963 137.39
24 63 Henry LEE jr HKG BMW 320i 2:40.589 9 6.200 137.19
25 31 I Sergio HERNANDEZ ESP BMW 320si 2:40.796 9 6.407 137.01
26 28 Carl ROSENBLAD SWE BMW 320si 2:41.204 9 6.815 136.67
27 33 I Miguel FREITAS POR Alfa Romeo 156 2:42.016 9 7.627
135.98
28 22 I Maurizio CERESOLI ITA SEAT Leon 2:43.406 6 9.017 134.83
29 62 I AO Chi Hong MAC BMW 320i 2:50.680 8 16.291 129.08
30 46 David LOUIE HKG BMW 320i 2:53.305 8 18.916 127.12
31 44 I Andrey ROMANOV RUS BMW 320i 3:00.220 4 25.831 122.25
32 9 Jordi GENE ESP SEAT Leon TDI 13:21.167 1 10:46.778 27.50
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