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Mexico Qualifying

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Roberto Colciago and Peter Terting claimed a virtual top row for tomorrow’s Race 1. However, despite posting the 1st and 2nd fastest times in qualifying, they will both be demoted 10 places on the grid.

For Colciago this was due to the implementation of a suspended penalty obtained in Imola, and for Terting it was a result of an engine change between practice and qualifying. This meant pole position was handed to Fabrizio Giovanardi, who will share the front row with team mate James Thompson. Tarquini will start third, alongside Gené, while Rydell and Huff will share the third row. Huff’s 6th starting position is the best result so far for Chevrolet.

Augusto Farfus and Jason Plato are also dropped 10 places each due suspended penalties from Imola and therefore start 14th and 20th respectively. In the opening stages of the session Thompson and Colciago battled for the top spot until, after eight minutes, Giovanardi clocked a time of 1:30.149 which put him at the top. Tarquini and Gené made contact coming into a corner and the latter came off the track, his SEAT stranded just beyond the kerbs. This incident resulted in the first period of three, under red flag.

After resuming, Colciago topped the time sheet once again with a lap in 1:29.830. This was the best lap of the entire session. Within a matter of minutes, Thompson went wide on the banked corner and hit the wall. Once again the red flags were issued as his Alfa Romeo car was towed away.

Terting shot to second position as the session continued. His time was a mere 0.029 of a second slower than Colciago’s. In the following laps, Farfus improved his times and slotted into fourth position, demoting team-mate Thompson to fifth. With seven minutes remaining, Larini went wide and crashed into a concrete wall causing the red flags to be waved again. Not all of the cars returned to the track for the final stages of the session and none of the top positions were altered. Tom Coronel was the best of the independent drivers and 13th overall.

Due to their crashes in the first free practice, Jörg Muller and Adriano De Micheli missed the qualifying session.