Tom Chilton frustrated with Pepe Oriola after qualifying

RML’s Tom Chilton believes a pole position opportunity was lost after he was held up by Pepe Oriola’s Chevrolet in Q2, who fought to pass him and follow in Yvan Muller’s slipstream on their final run.

“We took turns in giving each other a slipstream and the second run in Q2 was Yvan’s turn to give me a tow,” said Chilton, “and Pepe Oriola fought very hard to get between us to make sure he was behind Yvan, and after trying so hard to get behind Yvan, he then made two or three big mistakes which cost me my one lap and through frustration at the very last corner I left my foot flat and went completely wide at the gravel to do that time.”

“It wasn’t a clear lap at all and I think I was robbed of maybe a pole, but that time (of Yvan’s) was still very quick so (maybe not),” he added.

Chilton’s time was still good enough to secure second on the grid, with Oriola the next best placed Chevrolet driver in fifth position, with the Hondas of Norbert Michelisz and Gabriele Tarquini separating them.

It’s the second time in two meetings that Chilton and Oriola have had an incident together, with Oriola making a daring pass in the second race at Porto which saw Chilton forced off-line and down the order whilst Oriola was able to secure fourth position at the Portuguese street circuit.

Looking ahead to today’s races, Chilton echoes his team-mate’s sentiment that the extra weight and warm conditions could affect the Chevrolets during the race more than their competitors.

“We are running very different set-ups at the moment and (the Chevrolet) is 40kg heavier than any other car on the grid. We have a very good car but we also have 11 laps on a circuit which is abrasive on its tyres so it might be a different story (in the races).”