Engine failure sees O’Young starting last

Darryl O’Young failed to set a lap time in qualifying after suffering an engine failure on his debut with Special Tuning Racing. If the team are able to fit a replacement engine, the Hong Kong driver will have to start last for both of tomorrow’s race.

O’Young’s throttle failed in Free Practice 2 which foreshadowed what was to happen in qualifying, with the SEAT León WTCC grinding to a halt on his first flying lap.

“That’s the first engine failure I guess of the SEATs,” said O’Young to TouringCarTimes. “We don’t know what it is, I might have been losing power in FP2, I’m not exactly sure, so the team has to look and see what we can do. I think we might have a spare engine to put in so we should be able to start from the back.”

The other three drivers with the new SEAT Sport engine fared well in qualifying, with Aleksei Dudukalo making it into ninth position, Pepe Oriola claiming the independents’ class pole and Gabriele Tarquini on overall pole position.

“These minor things happen, I’m really happy for SEAT Sport, that shows the potential of this engine,” added O’Young.