Special Tuning Racing had a disastrous first weekend through no fault of their own at the first round of the WTCC at Monza, with no engine available for Tom Boardman, and Darryl O’Young suffering two engine failures with the last one seeing the car burst into flames in the warm up.
Stefano D’Aste, Pepe Oriola and Alex MacDowall jointly lead the independents’ trophy standings after the first round of the 2012 FIA World Touring Car Championship after a great opening weekend for the three drivers.
British squad Arena Motorsport had a strong start in the World Touring Car Championship at Monza, with both cars finishing both races on their debut, with expectations within the team that improvements will be soon to follow.
Gabriele Tarquini and Gábor Wéber have changed engines ahead of this afternoon’s race. The Hungarian will start from the back of the grid, whilst the Italian’s pole is safe.
Chevrolet’s Yvan Muller was fastest in the 15 minute warm up at Monza, which was halted early on after Darryl O’Young’s SEAT León caught fire.
The Arena Motorsport Ford Focuses of James Nash and Tom Chilton qualified in 14th and 15th in their first weekend in the WTCC at Monza, with Nash just 1.5 seconds down on pole sitter Tarquini.
SEAT Sport’s new customer racing programme has hit the ground running with Lukoil Racing Team securing pole position for Gabriele Tarquini in race one and with Aleksei Dudukalo on the front row for race two.
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.
Alain Menu lead the way in the second free practice session at Monza, though SEAT’s new engine showed even more promise with Gabriele Tarquini, Pepe Oriola and Aleksei Dudukalo all in the top six.
19-year-old Fernando Monje improved on his time from yesterdays’ test session to dominate the ETCC free practice session in the SUNRED SEAT León TDI.