ROUNDS 5 & 6 - VALENCIA, SPAIN
QUALIFYING REPORT
SECOND POLE FOR YVAN MULLER
Yvan Muller dominated today's qualifying session on the wet
track. SEAT Sport's Frenchman made his ambitions clear from
the start, posting a provisional fastest lap of 1:59.123.
Eventually this time would have been enough to be on pole
position but, just to be sure, Muller improved to 1:58.816,
being the only driver under the 1:59. mark and securing his
second pole of the season after Curitiba.
Muller's team-mate Gabriele Tarquini managed to give SEAT
the full front row setting the second fastest lap just as
the session expired. However, the Italian's time of 1:59.514
was nearly seven tenths slower than the pole. Immediately
after Tarquini, Alain Menu was also able to improve to 1:59.610
and stole third position from his Chevrolet team-mate Robert
Huff.
With Jordi Gené in fifth position, and fastest of
the Spanish drivers, Andy Priaulx emerged as the best of the
BMW drivers, setting the sixth fastest lap and placing ahead
of fellow BMW colleagues Jörg Müller, Augusto Farfus
and Alessandro Zanardi.
James Thompson had a difficult session and eventually qualified
his N.technology Honda Accord in twelfth position.
The Independents' class saw a three-man fight for the pole.
Local boy Sergio Hernández looked to be the best placed
to achieve it after his brilliant performance in the morning
practices, but he was pipped by his Proteam Motorsport team-mate
Stefano D'Aste by 0.048 seconds only. Pierre-Yves Corthals
claimed third position in the class.
A number of drivers had problems in keeping the line on the
flooded racetrack. Many of them spun (Muller and Müller
even risked a nose-to-nose crash at turn 8) or paid visits
to the gravel traps. Alexander Lvov was victim of a curious
accident when he was forced to return to the pits after the
front bonnet of his Golden Motors Honda Accord flipped open
blocking the view.
In spite of this the session was disrupted only once by the
red-flag, at half way, when Jaap van Lagen's LADA went off
onto the gravel trap at turn 12.
ALAIN MENU'S TIMES DISALLOWED
After the end of the qualifying session the Stewards of the
meeting disallowed all the times set by Alain Menu because
his Chevrolet Lacetti did not comply with the 70-millimiter
ground clearance.
This demoted the Swiss from third to the back of the grid
and promoted Robert Huff to third and Jordi Gené to
fourth.
LADA ALLOWED TO RACE BUT NOT TO SCORE
The Stewards, having received a report from the FIA Technical
Delegate, decided to allow the two Russian Bears Motorsport
LADA cars to take part in the event further to the agreement
of all the other competitors, however the Russian cars will
not be eligible to score points for both the championship
and the Independents Trophy.
The reason for this decision was that intake and outlet ports
of the cylinder head were not conform to the homologation
form.
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