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Yvan Muller on pole at Monza |
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Saturday, 04 October 2008 |
SEAT DOMINATE AND TAKE TOP FOUR
SEAT Sport turbodiesel cars have claimed the top four positions on the grid for tomorrow's first race.
Qualifying
was all about the SEAT drivers who will line up on the grid with the
three Championship leaders - Yvan Muller, Gabriele Tarquini and Rickard
Rydell - in the top four places.
Muller
and Tarquini changed positions repeatedly throughout the session in the
attempt to take pole. In the end last year's pole sitter Yvan Muller
improved his time from 2007 (1:59.487) and set the fastest today, with
a lap of 1:59.213. Tarquini finished very closely behind him
(1:59.247), with Jordi Gené taking third position (1:59.879). Rydell took the fourth (1:59.963) proving that the team's plan worked beautifully.
SEAT men clocked each fastest lap in the slipstream of their team mates. Gené
spent most of the session acting as a pull to the rest of the team,
until in the final minutes he was able to set his own fast time. The
four León Tdi cars were the only ones in the field to break the
two-minute wall.
The
only SEAT driver who has not been able to take advantage of the
teamwork was Tiago Monteiro, who qualified in tenth place; the
Portuguese lost his car at Parabolica during his last attempt and drove
wide.
Following
his practice fastest times Augusto Farfus could only manage fifth
place, as the BMW tried to play the same game as the SEATs but without
the same success.
Highest
placed Chevrolet, Nicola Larini's took sixth position, with his team
mates close behind him: Alain Menu in seventh and Robert Huff in ninth.
Andy Priaulx was sandwiched betweem them in eighth.
James Thompson,
who won the second race in Imola could only qualify his Honda Accord in
thirteenth, behind Independents' Trophy pole position holder
Pierre-Yves Corthals who took eleventh overall, several places ahead of
his nearest rival Sergio Hernández who is sixteenth.
There
were very few incidents in this session, as the drivers seemed to have
found their stride on the circuit. Only a couple of them cut the second
chicane in this session, and only Hernández went straight at the first
one.
Manabu Orido emerged as the fastest of the Japanese patrol, qualifying his Chevrolet Lacetti in 20th position, with Aoki 22nd and Taniguchi 26th.
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