ROUNDS 19 & 20 – MONZA, ITALY QUALIFYING REPORT
Weather: sunny in the morning, cloudy in the afternoon; the
track was dry
MULLER CLAIMS SEAT TDI’S FIRST POLE
SEAT Sport claimed an impressive 1-2-3 in qualifying. Yvan
Muller posted a stunning 1:59.487 in the second half of the
session to give the diesel powered León its first pole.
In fact, it is also Muller’s first ever pole position
in the FIA WTCC. Jordi Gené (1:59.887) and Gabriele
Tarquini (2:00.004), also at the wheel of diesel powered machines,
will line up second and third respectively.
After the trio of SEAT cars, two Chevrolets will follow on
the grid. Just as the SEAT cars did at the start of the session,
the Chevrolet drivers formed a line after ten minutes and
towed each other for extra speed. The result was fourth place
for Larini and despite improving his time later (to 2:00.322)
he remained fourth. Alain Menu will line up behind his team-mate
after his time of 2:00.358 placed him fifth. Huff was 16th
quickest.
To follow suit, a duo of BMW drivers is next on the timesheet.
Augusto Farfus of BMW Team Germany and Félix Porteiro
of BMW Team Italy-Spain clocked the sixth and seventh best
times. Porteiro strayed into the gravel at the first chicane
at the start of the session and pitted shortly after to solve
some technical problems. He rejoined and set a time nine tenths
slower than pole man Muller’s.
The top eight qualifiers are completed by James Thompson
and his N.technology Alfa Romeo. The Briton completed a lap
in 2:00.497. Luca Rangoni secured the Independents’
pole by qualifying ninth overall; the Promteam Motorsport’s
man stole first position from his rival – and current
leader of the Trophy - Pierre-Yves Corthals who qualified
12th.
BULLET NEWS
PRACTICES: LARINI AND THOMPSON ON TOP
Nicola Larini clocked the best lap of the first session in
2:01.224, ousting independent driver Colciago by 0.115 seconds.
The third best lap was set by Monteiro. During the early stages
of the session Sergio Hernández went off and onto the
gravel trap at the Parabolica after a clash with Robert Huff.
In the second session James Thompson topped the timesheet
thanks to an early lap of 2:00.976 that he eventually managed
to improve to 2:00.898. Larini and Menu posted the second
and third fastest laps respectively.
NEW ENGINE FOR MONTEIRO
Tiago Monteiro got a new engine, with a higher compression
ration of 13:1, in his SEAT León. This kind of engine
was only used by Jordi Gené before he switched to the
turbo-diesel car. The use of this engine also meant that Monteiro
no longer benefits from the waiver that reduces the car’s
minimum weight by 25 kg.
THEY SAID, THEY SAID…
Yvan MULLER
“I’m particularly pleased to get pole because
previously I have missed out on it by very small margins.
It’s now another thing ticked off the list. What makes
it even better is that it came out of great team work. Getting
the top three positions with the diesel engines is great and
feels like a reward for the risk we took in changing from
petrol. Tomorrow could be a crucial day for the championship
and I’m happy I have two team-mates with me.”
Jordi GENÉ
“We put a lot of effort into the diesel car which was
a risk, especially to develop it during the current season.
The championship is so competitive you can really tell when
a circuit suits a particular car and this is what happened
with us today. We planned everything before qualifying and
it went to plan.”
Gabriele TARQUINI
“The potential of the diesel car is huge. The torque
of the diesel engine here allows us to accelerate out of the
chicane much better. The aim in qualifying was to get Yvan
on pole so mission accomplished.”
Nicola LARINI
“It was forecasted the diesel cars would be fast in
qualifying because Monza is a good circuit for them. I’m
quite upset because we had no chance to be as fast as they
were.”
James THOMPSON
“We are slightly disappointed because in free practice
we were on the pace. The problem I have is that I was unable
to benefit from working as a team and gaining slipstream because
we are such a small team. I’m really pleased because
the lap I did was as good as I could do alone.”
Luca RANGONI
“Pole position was important today because I want to
get as many points as possible from the weekend which will
allow me to be in the title fight until Macau. The races will
be harder than qualifying but my team is working hard to give
me the best car.”
Andy PRIAULX
“We got a good first run that put us in the top eight.
When we tried to optimise in the second and third attempts
we got caught in traffic and I didn’t get the perfect
tow from Fredrik. There was nothing I could do.” 2007
FIA World Touring Car Championship
QUALIFYING
POS NO CL DRIVER NAT CAR TIME LAPS GAP KPH
Weather/Track: Cloud 22 °/Dry 24°
Monza
Circuit Length = 5.7930 km.
Start: 15:00 End: 15:30
Printed - 15:38 Saturday, 06 October 2007
Race Director: Steward: Timekeeper:
1 12 Yvan MULLER FRA SEAT Leon TDI 1:59.487 8 174.53
2 9 Jordi GENE ESP SEAT Leon TDI 1:59.887 7 0.400 173.95
3 11 Gabriele TARQUINI ITA SEAT Leon TDI 2:00.004 9 0.517
173.78
4 7 Nicola LARINI ITA Chevrolet Lacetti 2:00.322 11 0.835
173.32
5 8 Alain MENU SUI Chevrolet Lacetti 2:00.358 10 0.871 173.27
6 3 Augusto FARFUS BRA BMW 320si 2:00.386 12 0.899 173.23
7 5 Felix PORTEIRO ESP BMW 320si 2:00.445 10 0.958 173.14
8 15 James THOMPSON GBR Alfa Romeo 156 2:00.497 11 1.010 173.07
9 30 I Luca RANGONI ITA BMW 320si 2:00.622 10 1.135 172.89
10 2 Jorg MULLER GER BMW 320si 2:00.676 12 1.189 172.81
11 18 Tiago MONTEIRO POR SEAT Leon 2:00.863 10 1.376 172.54
12 23 I Pierre-Yves CORTHALS BEL SEAT Leon 2:00.865 9 1.378
172.54
13 1 Andy PRIAULX GBR BMW 320si 2:01.032 9 1.545 172.30
14 38 Oscar NOGUES ESP SEAT Leon 2:01.033 10 1.546 172.30
15 20 Tom CORONEL NED SEAT Leon 2:01.048 10 1.561 172.28
16 6 Robert HUFF GBR Chevrolet Lacetti 2:01.059 11 1.572 172.27
17 16 Olivier TIELEMANS NED Alfa Romeo 156 2:01.070 12 1.583
172.25
18 19 I Roberto COLCIAGO ITA SEAT Leon 2:01.129 12 1.642 172.17
19 4 Alessandro ZANARDI ITA BMW 320si 2:01.212 11 1.725 172.05
20 14 Fredrik EKBLOM SWE BMW 320si 2:01.219 11 1.732 172.04
21 10 Michel JOURDAIN MEX SEAT Leon 2:01.268 7 1.781 171.97
22 26 I Stefano D'ASTE ITA BMW 320si 2:01.461 11 1.974 171.70
23 31 I Sergio HERNANDEZ ESP BMW 320si 2:01.787 11 2.300 171.24
24 17 I Tomas ENGSTROM SWE Honda Accord-R 2:02.115 12 2.628
170.78
25 22 I Maurizio CERESOLI ITA SEAT Leon 2:02.402 9 2.915 170.38
26 33 I Miguel FREITAS POR Alfa Romeo 156 2:03.657 12 4.170
168.65
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