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VX Racings Last Gap Qualifying |
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Sunday, 03 June 2007 |
VX Racing's Fabrizio Giovanardi kept fans waiting until the last moment in today's Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship qualifying at Croft.
The seven-times touring car champion spent most of the session lapping in 14th with a mysterious handling problem.
The team then diagnosed a broken rear suspension component in the nick of time, making the necessary repairs with seconds to spare. Giovanardi went on to set his best time as the chequered flag fell, leaping up nine places to fifth on his last run, despite carrying considerable success ballast from his double victory at Thruxton.
It means the 40-year-old will start three places ahead of main Drivers'
Championship rival Jason Plato, in the SEAT Leon, perfectly positioning
Giovanardi to gain further ground on the championship leader.
Tom Chilton struggled to show good pace in the session and finished
11th, with excessive tyre-wear the main problem. The 22-year-old
believes he has the answer to the problem for tomorrow's race and is
looking forward to a good fight for position.
The first of tomorrow's three races will start at 12:01.
Fabrizio Giovanardi #5 ”On my first run out, the screw on the spring on
the rear suspension came off and I had to come back in to get it fixed
as I was driving on three wheels.
“I was really nervous on my last lap as I know it was my last chance.
If you make a mistake on a set of new tyres there is no improvement. I
drove careful but still aggressive.
“Tomorrow, I hope to gain more points than Jason Plato like I did in the last two race meetings.”
Tom Chilton #7 ”On my first run there where tyre barriers on the track
and I had to swing around to avoid them. On my second run we did the
diagonal tyre swap to get more temperature on the rear tyres, but it
turned out it gave me too much oversteer.
“I came back into the pits to go the other way but unfortunately we run out of time.
“The car is good off the start and I’m looking forward to fighting my way back tomorrow.”
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