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Mexican pole for Gené and SEAT |
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Sunday, 06 April 2008 |
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.
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