Lining up after a five week break but it was Chevrolet who took first blood with pole
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BMW
Augusto Farfus claims sixth for BMW in Oschersleben qualifying session.
Oschersleben, 30th August 2008. Augusto Farfus (BR) set the sixth fastest lap time in qualifying for the 15th round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship. With a time of 1:36.004 minutes the BMW Team Germany driver has assured himself of being the highest placed BMW on the grid for the race in the "Motorsport Arena Oschersleben". Chevrolet's Robert Huff (GB) went 0.329 seconds quicker than Farfus, taking pole for Sunday's first race in the "Magdeburger Borde" region.
Triple world champion Andy Priaulx (GB) was ninth at the 3.696-kilometre circuit for BMW Team UK, while BMW Team Italy-Spain's Felix Porteiro (ES) came 12th. Farfus' team-mate, Jorg Muller (DE), had to make do with 13th. Alessandro Zanardi (IT) - also racing for BMW Team Italy-Spain - ended up 17th on the timesheets.
On several occasions the progress of the BMW drivers was hampered by yellow flags. Many minor incidents forced them to lift off the throttle on the narrow track. "This heavily influenced my qualifying on the negative side," said Farfus after the 30- minute session. "My car was perfect, and I'm 100 percent sure we could have finished further up the grid. However, from the third row I have still got every chance to score a good result in front of our home crowd."
"I'm really disappointed," added Priaulx, "as my car was certainly capable of giving me the chance of a better grid position. But I cannot blame the team or myself. On my last lap I was blocked, and a little later another car went off in front of me. What can you do? That's racing."
Local hero Muller, who thanks to his win in Brands Hatch (GB) is carrying the maximum ballast of 70 kilograms, couldn't exploit the full potential of his BMW 320si WTCC. He said: "On my last run I lost some time when overtaking another car. Otherwise I could have made it into the top eight. In the past, however, I have often managed to fight my way back from even further down the grid. So I will keep on fighting and give my very best on Sunday."
Race one will start on Sunday at 12:05hrs (11:05hrs BST), the second race will start at 15:50hrs (14:50hrs BST). The two rounds will be televised by Eurosport 2 and Eurosport International respectively. They will also be streamed live on the internet, at www.bmw-motorsport.com.
Seat
Tarquini puts his SEAT Leon TDI on the front row Click here to return to the list of news items
The qualifying session for the first WTCC race on the German Oschersleben circuit saw the SEAT Sport drivers take positions on the front and second row of the starting grid thanks to the second fastest time clocked by Gabriele Tarquini and the third place of Tiago Monteiro.
After a close fight, with SEAT Sport drivers swapping positions on the top spot, Tarquini was beaten in the final instants by Robert Huff, who was only 191 thousands of a second faster. Behind them, Tiago Monteiro was quicker than Tom Coronel, who qualified on fourth, giving good proof of the competitiveness of the petrol-powered SEAT Leon WTCC. Rickard Rydell and Yvan Muller qualified on 10th and 11th position.
Monteiro and Rydell were the first SEAT drivers to clock the fastest time, which was later improved by Tarquini, who remained on top until the last moment. Gene has been among the top ten throughout the session, as Muller, although none of them was able to improve their times in their last try. However, the French driver is only five tenths of a second behind the fastest time, showing the tremendous equality in this series which is led by SEAT both in the constructors' and drivers' championships.
Gabriele Tarquini (SEAT Leon TDI), 2nd : "I took the pole last year and this year I've been holding it until the last minutes. It is actually one of my favourite tracks. I tried to find the best set-up with worn tyres during the free practices and I'm happy because the car is working very well. The team has made a great job and I felt very comfortable during qualifying. The first turn will be decisive tomorrow and I won't be able to think about the fight for the podium and the victory until after a couple of laps."
Tiago Monteiro (SEAT Leon TDI ), 3rd: "I've been very close to the pole and the fight has been really hard because there are fifteen of us within a second and the equality will be great in the race too. I've felt very comfortable during qualifying and I'm optimistic although the least mistake may be very expensive on this track. My aim is to score as many points as possible for the championship".
Pole for Chevrolet
Chevrolet
Nicola Larini In 5th; Alain Menu In 8th
OSCHERSLEBEN, Rob Huff stormed to his first-ever WTCC pole position for tomorrow's Oschersleben WTCC race when he was the last to take the checkered flag of the session. In an all-out effort he bettered his previous time which was already good for a front row position, despite having to lift off because of a stationary car in the second sector. The other Chevrolet Lacetti drivers, Alain and Nicola Larini, were equally fast but couldn't capitalize on their fast cars through external factors. Menu got badly baulked by some privateers while he was already over a tenth of a second faster that the provisional pole time, while Larini as well got hindered by a privateer going slow on the racing line. Still, their respective starting positions will allow them to play the strategic game for tomorrow's second race.
QUOTES
Rob Huff (Pole): "I had a fantastic car today and a perfect last qualifying lap, bar for turn 10 where I had to lift for the yellows. In the past we haven't always qualified well here, but we had a great test here earlier this year, so we knew we'd be competitive. That last lap was an all-or- nothing lap, since I was already on the first row anyway. I used every inch of tarmac available and was helped by the fact that the track got grippier and grippier by the end of the session. I'm now going for a win at every place we possibly can, success ballast permitting."
Nicola Larini (5th): "I'm happy for Rob and the team. As for myself I am a little bit disappointed because on my last and fastest set of tyres I was really quick but I got held up by one of the turquoise blue privateer BMWs who was just cruising on the racing line. Without that I'm sure I would have been up front with Rob as the car was really good all weekend. I have rarely felt this comfortable on this track as I did today and the team did a great job in getting me there."
Alain Menu (8th): "On my last set of tyres I was really flying to the point of being already 0.185 seconds faster after the second sector. Then in the last sector I got baulked by the Bulgarian privateer who wasn't going anywhere, so that put paid to a possible front row starting position, which would have been excellent considering the extra weight I'm carrying. Now I'm eighth so I'll have to play it smart in the first race to be on the front row for the second race."