ENGSTRÖM AND MØLLER MAKE HONDA 1-2 IN QUALIFYING
Tomas Engström from Sweden claimed pole position for
the third FIA European Touring Car Cup and Jens Reno Møller
from Denmark completed an all-Honda front row on the grid
for tomorrow’s Race 1. Maurizio Ceresoli in the GR Asia
SEAT León posted the third fastest lap after sitting
on provisional pole.
Italian driver Fabio Fabiani created a surprise placing his
BMW 320i on pole for the Super Production class, ahead of
Aleksey Basov’s Honda Civic and Anton Markin’s
BMW 320i.
38 DRIVERS QUALIFY FOR TOMORROW’S RACES
The qualifying session got underway on a dry track as the
sun peeped out for the first time. Immediately Henrik Lundgaard
was fastest in his Chevrolet with a lap of 1:24.543 that was
seriously threatened by the attempts of César Campaniço’s
BMW. Then Lundgaard’s team-mate Pontus Mörth took
the top spot with a time of 1:23.683. This time was then beaten
by Engström who improved to 1:23.201, just before the
red flag disrupted the session when the Super Production BMW
of Revello stopped along a straight with a smoking engine.
When qualifying resumed after Revello’s car was towed
to a safe spot, Alexander Lvov and Emmet O’Brien managed
to move up to second and fourth fastest respectively. Minutes
later it was all change again with Lundgaard jumping ahead
once more with his improved lap time of 1:23.128.
Half way through the session, while Fabiani clocked the pole
position time of 1:27.186 in the Super Production class, Ceresoli
was the first driver to go below the 1:23 with a lap of 1:22.759,
but he was soon ousted from the provisional pole by Lundgaard
(1:22.720) and Engström (1:22.739).
Ceresoli struck back and re-took provisional pole position
with a time of 1:22.578, that he improved further to 1:22.527,
but Engström and Møller demoted him to third,
clocking 1:22.070 and 1:22.465 respectively.
Ford Fiesta driver Jens-Guido Weimann was fastest in the
S1600 class with a time of 1:32.043.
All the 38 drivers entered in the event posted a valid qualifying
time.
PRACTICE 1 - ENGSTRÖM CHASED CHEVROLET DUO
36 drivers took part in Saturday’s early morning practice
session on a mostly dry track. Again the Chevrolet Motorsport
Danmark duo of Pontus Mörth and Henrik Lundgaard topped
the time sheet, while Tomas Engström’s Honda and
Michel Nykjær’s SEAT posted the third and fourth
fastest times. The Super Production class saw Russian drivers
on top, with Dmitry Dobrovolskiy edging fellow countrymen
Basov, Agapov and Markin.
PRACTICE 2 - NYKJÆR’S SEAT LEÓN
WAS FASTEST
Saturday’s second practice session saw all 38 drivers
taking part on a dry track. It was a change in fortune for
Chevrolet drivers Mörth and Lundgaard as Michel Nykjær
in the SEAT León was fastest with a time of 1:27.703.
Also ahead of the Chevrolet drivers was Ireland’s Emmet
O’Brien in the BMW, six tenths behind Nykjær.
Lvov’s Honda took fifth position ahead of Johansson’s
Mercedes and Philip Geipel’s Toyota making six different
manufacturers represented in the top-7. Aleksey Basov in the
Honda was the fastest driver in the Super Production class,
from Pavlovskiy’s Opel with BMW driver Anton Markin
third.
DRIVERS’ QUALIFYING QUOTES
Tomas ENGSTRÖM (Honda Accord) – Pole position
in Super 2000
“It is always good to be on pole position. The conditions
have been quite tricky but for qualifying I had the perfect
car and I would like to thank the team for that. The traffic
is always a problem but the team did a very good job from
the pits telling me when to push and when not to.”
Jens Reno MØLLER (Honda Accord) – 2nd
in Super 2000
“I am very happy to be second. We had some difficulties
caused by the tricky weather. Thanks to the team and JAS I
had the best car I have ever had and it was brilliant. In
Denmark we always had difficulties in qualifying so we were
surprised to be so fast here.”
Maurizio CERESOLI (SEAT León) – 3rd
in Supèr 2000
“I was on provisional pole position twice but there
was little space in the traffic and my set up was not perfect.
Although I have to say they did a good job in repairing my
car after I hit the tyres in the morning practice.”
Fabio FABIANI (BMW 320i) – Pole position in
Super Production
“For me it was not a surprise to be on pole position.
I know my car very well and I feel I can be very competitive.
If I didn’t have a problem with the clutch during the
qualifying I could have gone even faster.”
Aleksey BASOV (Honda Civic) – 2nd in Super
Production
“This was my first time at this track. Obviously it
would have been nice to be on pole but the races are tomorrow
and I’m confident, because my car can keep a good pace.”
Anton MARKIN (BMW 320i) – 3rd in Super Production
“This is not only my first time at this track but also
my first international race. Then I think that third in qualfying
was not too bad.”
Pontus MÖRTH (Chevrolet Lacetti) – 4th
in Super 2000
“We had been testing yesterday and today in the rain,
we have never been here before so it was difficult to find
a good racing line. Unfortunately we got a line at the end
of the session and the best of the tyres were gone then. So
I think we did a reasonably good job anyway we were fourth
and fifth.”
Emmet O’BRIEN (BMW 320is) – 6th in Super
2000
“There was a lot of traffic on the circuit but sixth
position isn’t too bad. I am disappointed not to be
in the top three because even pole was possible but tomorrow
is another day.”
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