Priaulx takes Macau pole!

Andy Priaulx increased his title chances by taking pole position of the very final World Touring Car Championship race of the year at Macau. Dirk Müller took second place ahead of SEAT’s Yvan Müller. Second best BMW-driver is Duncan Huisman in fourth ahead of Jörg Müller who rounded out top five.

The session started dry, but thirteen minutes in to the session rain started to fall. This stopped one of the title contenders to set a competitive time – Rickard Rydell. The Swede did not get out in time to set a lap time in the dry; instead he will start from 22:nd position.

Championship leader and title contender Augusto Farfus Jr. will start from seventh position, two places ahead of Gabriele Tarquini who will start from ninth position. WTCC-newcomer Jan Magnussen rounded out top ten in his BMW 320si.

The qualifying session was red-flagged twice due to accidents. Nicola Larini was the first driver to go in to the walls. The Italian had chance for a good time when he understeered off the track and in to the barriers. The Chevrolet-driver reportedly suffered from a broken suspension which could have caused the accident.

James Thompson was the second driver to cause the red flags to come out. The SEAT-driver went in to the wall before getting the chance to set a lap time and will therefore start second to last.

Andy PRIAULX – pole position

“I really enjoy Macau; it is a special circuit and provides a special challenge. It wasn’t just me that got pole, it was the whole team who pulled it together. I totally expected the session to be disrupted with red flags so I knew I had to get a quick time straight away. I then used new set of tyres to improve so it wasn’t a fluke, it was down to preparation. Is the title in my pocket? No chance! I respect my competitors too much to be thinking that at this stage. My car is very quick and I feel confident but we still have to wait and see what Sunday brings.”

Dirk MÜLLER – 2nd fastest

“The crash in free practice 1 was a wake-up call. While braking I lost the rear which meant losing control of the car and smashing into the wall. My neck still hurts. That qualifying session was the most chaotic of my career. I was stuck in between two SEATs for a long time which meant I only really had one lap and even that wasn’t perfect. This explains why Andy’s time was so much better than the rest of the field. My chances for Sunday? Well, there is a long straight and a tight first corner so you never know what will happen.”

Yvan MULLÉR – 3rd fastest

“The last time I was here was in 1991. To be honest I still don’t know the track off by heart. The car is quick and all the SEATs had the capacity to be at the front but the rain arrived and stopped their chances. The León loses some pace on the straights but is pretty quick on the rest of the circuit. Mathematically speaking I have a chance to be champion but realistically it is going to be extremely difficult because there are so many guys who are close. However because it is possible, especially in Macau, we have to think about it.”

Jörg MÜLLER – 5th fastest

“I’m definitely happy with 5th especially considering I am carrying 75 kg of weight. To be honest I didn’t expect it. I am still not happy that there is such a big gap between Andy so we still have to work on the car because it didn’t feel as good as in the free practices. Looking forward to Sunday.”

Tom CORONEL – 6th fastest

“It was crazy racing rather than qualifying out there! My car is good and I was fast by the second free practice which is a good sign for the race. I’m optimistic that we will do a good job in the race. I’ve always been fast in Macau and now I don’t have to think about championship points because I have that in the bag. This means I can attack the factory drivers and use my racing instinct instead of using my head to think of points.”

Augusto FARFUS – 7th fastest

“Our weekend started very badly and we were improving step by step but we know we are lacking something. However, we are pushing and we believe. I will wait until the end of the second race to see who will become world champion, this is my only target.”

Fabrizio GIOVANARDI – 8th fastest

“I’m having fun because I am not familiar with the Honda so to come to Macau was a lottery. I tried to make a good strategy for the qualifying and it worked well. I managed 8th position even with a small crash on the last corner so I must be happy because the further up the grid you start in Macau the more chance you have of gaining points.”

Gabriele TARQUINI – 9th fastest

“Ninth isn’t too bad – it could be worse but it could be better. I completely missed the second free practice because of my early crash and the team was still preparing my car as the qualifying was about to begin. This meant I had to join the back of the queue in the pit lane which is not the best place to be. I suffered because of two yellow and two red flags but I’m sure everybody had the same in this lottery session.”

Mark BUSFIELD – Chevrolet Team Manager

“It has been a case of highs and lows so far. In the practices our cars were at the front but a number of circumstances this afternoon have meant that every time we were about to set a fast lap unfortunately something stopped it. It is a bit disappointing because we know the car is quick, the drivers are quick and the team’s quick. We will have to fight from the back to the front on Sunday, it is the best we can do.”