ROUNDS 11 & 12 – BRNO
QUALIFYING REPORT
FARFUS SNATCHES HIS THIRD POLE
BMW cars will occupy the front row for tomorrow’s Race 1 as Augusto Farfus claimed first and Andy Priaulx second. With a time of 2:09.590 the Brazilian took his third pole position of the season. Alessandro Zanardi secured third place ahead of Chevrolet’s Nicola Larini. Rickard Rydell and Gabriele Tarquini were the only SEAT drivers to enter Q2 and they will line up fifth and sixth on the grid.
Q1 – It looked as though Jörg Müller’s opening gambit of 2:10.424 would equate to the fastest time but on the final lap Andy Priaulx beat it by a massive eight tenths of a second. SEAT Sport also had a surge in the dying minutes to ensure their presence in Q2. Gabriele Tarquini and Rickard Rydell made the top ten for the Spanish marque but in doing so knocked off team-mate Tiago Monteiro. Jordi Gené and Yvan Muller also narrowly missed the cut in 12th and 13th places. Alain Menu and Nicola Larini progressed to Q2 for Chevrolet but despite putting in his best lap at the end, Robert Huff could only manage the 14th best time. Félix Porteiro snuck into the top ten, being the only Independent driver to do so.
Q2 – With the majority of the cars venturing onto the track late in the session it was all to play for in the final minute. In fact, with the exception of Jörg Müller, all the drivers‘ best times came from their last lap, and in most cases in was their only flying lap. Priaulx took provisional pole but Farfus bettered it by just four hundredths of a second. Zanardi, who has a very strong record at the Brno track, was 0.272 shy of pole position. Larini, Rydell and Tarquini ensured BMW did not dominate further than the top three. Jörg Müller will line up seventh ahead of Alain Menu, Sergio Hernández and Félix Porteiro.