Jordi Gené drives to Puebla pole

Jordi Gené has taken pole position for the first of tommorow’s race at the Mexican track of Puebla, host of the second round of the World Touring Car Championship. Everybody expected the SEAT Léon TDI’s to be on top during qualifying, but it was Chevrolet who brought a big surprise to the session, having all three cars in the top five.

Nicola Larini drove his Chevrolet Lacetti to second place on the grid, after being on top of the table a long time during the session. Robert Huff had a late launch into to the top of the field, taking fourth on the grid and pushing team mate Alain Menu back to fifth in the progress.

Dutchman Tom Coronel was in the running for pole position for a long time as well, but in the end he had to settle for third place on the grid. “A nice gift to my birthday. It’s a shame we’re not having a race today, because normally people give themselves a race win on their birthday”, Coronel said after qualifying. “Our car as good, very stable. I’m surprised with where we are. Tomorrow we’re going to kick some ass!”

Another surprise in the top ten was Augusto Farfus. The BMW’s had been off the pace for the entire weekend, but the Brazilian managed to get out a lap just quick enough to place him sixth on the grid. He will start tomorrow’s race just ahead of a train of SEAT Léon TDI’s, who have some overtaking to do on the twisty track tomorrow, if they want to meet the expectations on their performance. The diesel train is led by Swedish driver Rickard Rydell, followed by the championship leaders Gabriele Tarquini and Yvan Muller.

Tiago Monteiro wrapped up the top ten, after having to watch from the pit wall the last 9 minutes. The Portugese driver had an engine failure nine minutes from the end in his SEAT Léon TDI, with a lot of smoke coming from the exhaust pipes at the rear of his car. The session had to be halted for a couple of minutes after the incident to clean the track.