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Macau Qualifying

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Andy Priaulx will begin from pole position on Sunday, the perfect position in his bid to become World Champion. His time of 2:31.712 broke the previous Guia Race record by four thenths; it was set on the opening lap and numerous periods under red flag conditions meant nobody was able to challenge it.

André Couto claimed second position, 0.622 seconds behind Priaulx. On the second row there will be a further two Alfas driven by Augusto Farfus and Gabriele Tarquini, providing the team manages to repair the latter that was involved in a massive crash. The other title contenders, Dirk Müller and Fabrizio Giovanardi are placed 6th and 9th respectively.

All three of Chevrolet’s drivers made it onto the top ten. Nicola Larini had the best time of 2:32.808 placing him 5th for Sunday’s Race 1 while Alain Menu and Robert Huff are 8th and 10th. Rickard Rydell set a time of 2:33.238 to place is SEAT 7th on the grid.

Patrick Bernhardt set a time of 2:36.338 which placed the Ford Hotfiel Sport driver 20th, three positions ahead of team-mate Michael Funke. Tom Coronel led the independent pack from 13th position but starting alongside him is another potential Independent trophy winner, Giuseppe Cirò.

The session suffered many disruptions. Red flags were issued after Peter Scharmach crashed coming into the uphill section after the Melco Hairpin, his car stranded across the track. Then, local driver Ao Chi Hong went wide at Fishermen’s bend after eleven minutes. It was his first lap and the position of his car meant that the red flags made another appearance.

The session was stopped for a third time due to a dramatic collision between Taquini’s Alfa and Rydell’s SEAT. Tarquini went straight ahead at turn 16 and Rydell, unable to see, crashed straight into the back of him. The impact of the crash meant the two cars were wedged between the barriers.

The Italian driver was hospitalized and underwent X-ray examinations for an aching shoulder. In the final few minutes there was an incident involving Farfus and Paul Poon, which caused the red flags to come out again, this time the session was not resumed. Simon Harrison was another victim of this dramatic session, hitting the wall after Turn 1.