ROUNDS 3 & 4 - PUEBLA-AMOZOC, MEXICO
QUALIFYING REPORT
MEXICAN POLE FOR GENÉ AND SEAT
Despite Nicola Larini and birthday boy Tom Coronel topping
the times for most of the qualifying, Jordi Gené snatched
pole for SEAT Sport in the closing minutes. A disappointed
Larini looked as though it may have been his session, until
Gené set fastest time at 1:40.808, the first driver
to go below 1:41. Chevrolet driver Larini was only 0.173 behind,
and Tom Coronel, who turned 36 today, was 0.258 further back.
It was an unexpected surprise for SUNRED Engineering's Dutchman,
but it proved that even though it is the team's first season
in the championship, their car is competitive.
Larini was supported by team mates Robert Huff and Alain
Menu who qualified fourth and fifth respectively, increasing
the pressure on SEAT. Chevrolet and SEAT have set the pace
all weekend so far showing a perfect balance in their performances,
while the BMW drivers struggled again to find the grip and
Augusto Farfus emerged as the fastest of them setting the
sixth fastest lap, 0.7 seconds off the pole.
Two-thirds of the way through the session SEAT Sport's Tiago
Monteiro's engine blew dramatically, putting an end to his
qualifying hopes as he slipped down from fifth to tenth position.
This incident caused a red flag and session was halted for
ten minutes. This gave Gabriele Tarquini time for his gearbox
to be fixed ready for the restart, and he was then finally
able to set a time immediately behind Rickard Rydell, who
was classified seventh.
Pierre-Yves Corthals set the fastest time for the Independents'
class, but was disappointed only finishing fourteenth. From
the pace his car had enjoyed over the weekend it was surprising
that he was not able to make the top ten.
In addition to Monteiro's engine blow out, there were only
a few other incidents during qualifying when Corthals and
D'Aste both left the track, but both rejoined to complete
the session.
BULLET NEWS
BUREAU LIMITS DIESEL TURBO PRESSURE
Like in Brazil, yesterday the FIA Touring Car Bureau have
issued a decision to limit the supercharged air pressure and
the fuel rail pressure on the SEAT León TDI cars. Both
pressures have been limited to the average maximum values
measured by the FIA data logger during the previous WTCC event
in Curitiba. This decision applies from Puebla and until further
notice.
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