Rydell takes Istanbul pole

Rickard Rydell claimed pole position today at Istanbul. His time was 2:06.289 which was 0.138 s faster than his closest rival Alessandro Zanardi who dominated the previous practice sessions. Gabriele Tarquini rounded out top three with his team mate Yvan Müller in fourth.

Qualifying was a session of two halves. The track was dry for 15 minutes until rain fell and wet conditions ensued. All of the drivers posted their best times in the dry with the top 14 within one second.

Rickard Rydell claimed his third pole position of the season for SEAT Sport after clocking a time of 2:06.289 in his first flying lap. Alessandro Zanardi, who came out top in both free practice sessions, will line up on the front row alongside the Swede after posting a time of 2:06.427.

Behind pole man Rydell on the grid will be team-mates Gabriele Tarquini in 3rd and Yvan Muller in 4th. Duncan Huisman rounded up the BMW – SEAT top five.

Nicola Larini continued to be the quickest of the Chevrolet trio and his time of 2:06.871 was good enough to place him 6th on the grid. Farfus was 0.623 of a second off the pace and will line up 7th tomorrow at the wheel of his Alfa Romeo 156.

The best time of the independent drivers was set by Luca Rangoni of Proteam Motorsport which was 16th fastest overall. His competitors Tom Coronel and Stefano D’Aste qualified 17th and 18th respectively.

Peter Terting’s lap in 2:07.061 was 9th quickest but the young German will begin from 19th as a result of the mandatory 10 place penalty issued for an engine change.

Rickard Rydell – pole position

“Three poles in eight qualifying sessions aren’t bad! The car has been quite good all weekend and we felt we had a lot more potential than we showed in free practice. I haven’t had the best of luck this year so I just hope I can finish the two races in the points.

It doesn’t matter to me what the conditions are like tomorrow. The important thing is that they are either totally dry or totally wet. I don’t want it to come down to a choice. The BMWs are evidently quick here, especially Zanardi and Huisman. If it had stayed dry I think I would have had to work a lot harder to fight for pole. We didn’t really expect to be able to beat them.”

Alessandro Zanardi – 2nd fastest

“In reality I’m happy to be in a situation where I am a little disappointed with 2nd place! The car has felt good since its first outing, and this circuit has quite similar characteristics to Brno so we expected to do quite well. I feel that I could have fought Rickard (Rydell) a bit harder in the laps we did in the dry.

The conditions didn’t work well for me because I was going to give Duncan (Huisman) a tow for the first set of new tyres and he was then going to do the same for me on the second set, but we never got to that point. Therefore I am very happy to have set the time by myself and to be lining up on the front row.”

Gabriele Tarquini – 3rd fastest

“My strategy has changed. Before Brno I was scoring a few points at each race and keeping my ballast low. However I am now far from the championship fight and so I am looking to score maximum points this weekend. Unfortunately I lost the second free practice session completely because I had problems with the gearbox. For this reason I didn’t feel very good on my new tyres but I am really optimistic for tomorrow. Maximum attack from the first corner to the last one!”

Duncan Huisman – 5th fastest

“I was looking to be in the top three in qualifying after this morning’s great performances which felt very comfortable. Fifth is still very good and it is my best result so far but I would have hoped to be nearer the front. I look forward to the races tomorrow as we have a very good racing car. I don’t have much experience in this car in the wet so I am hoping for dry conditions.”

Nicola Larini – 6th fastest

“I am really confident for the races if everything goes smoothly. In my last race I had bad luck so I am hoping for a good weekend. At the moment we are in a good position to score points in Race 1 and why not go to the podium? In the wet this circuit seems to be a BMW track so I certainly want it dry tomorrow.”

Augusto Farfus – 7th fastest

“The rain made qualifying a bit tricky and I am sure, like other drivers, I would have been able to improve my time in different situations so that was unlucky. I hope for the sunshine tomorrow and to score some more points for the championship. We know exactly what works best for us in dry conditions so I prefer the rain keeps away tomorrow.”

Luca Rangoni – 16th fastest

“I am really hoping to win the independent races tomorrow because I have had some bad luck and haven’t managed to do it this season. The team worked really hard in qualifying so I got to try the wet set-up and it feels good. In fact I am hoping for rain tomorrow.”