Félix Porteiro tops final practice

Félix Porteiro once again was the fastest man around Estoril, as the final practice session was completed. Porteiro headed the field from his team mate Alessandro Zanardi in second. Ryan Sharp took third ahead of Robin Rudholm in fourth and Carl Rosenblad in fifth

The conditions at the track are getting better and better. The track is still wet in some areas but the sun is out and promises for a dry qualifying. Tomas Engström in the Honda Accord was forced to change his engine after the first practice. A new one is in and is reported to be working well.

TouringCarTimes had a short chat with West Coast Racing-driver Robin Rudholm.

“I’m still trying to get a grip of the track. This is my first time here and it has been a bit difficult to learn the track in wet conditions, but we are getting there,” Rudholm said.

“I’m happy with our pace here. We are a bit behind the two BMW Italy-Spain cars, but not that far. For the qualifying I would be very happy with a top three position, but it is difficult to say anything with these changing weather conditions,” Rudholm said.

In the Swedish Touring Car Championship all cars run on Michelin tyres. In this race all cars must use Yokohama-tyres. Rudholm is a bit crossed about the new tyres.

“They are a bit strange. The gap when they’re really working is so small, much smaller than the Michelin tyres. When you’re out on new Yokohama tyres, you can’t really tell if they are new or old.”

Fastest of the Super Production category ws Stefano Valli in his BMW 320i ahead of Romanov and Sadredinov.

Next up is qualifying which starts at 15.30 local time (16.30 CET).