DOMINANT CHEVROLET LACETTI ON POLE POSITION FOR PORTUGUESE RACE
First WTCC Pole Position For Larini; Rob Huff 4 th
Italian Chevrolet Lacetti driver, Nicola Larini, scored his very first WTCC pole position in Estoril, yesterday. Larini dominated the proceedings from the very beginning setting a time beyond anybody’s reach. He then confirmed his and the car’s competitiveness by going even faster in the dying minutes of the session, while Rob Huff qualified in fourth. Larini’s first ever WTCC pole at the same time continues Chevrolet’s tradition of starting from pole position at every new race track the championship visits.
• QUOTES
Nicola Larini (1 st ): “I’m very happy. It’s a dream come true after a very difficult last few races. Ihope I can keep that momentum tomorrow and finish on the podium. I also have to say a bigthank you to the team for letting me have the test car for this race. The last few races I felt thatmaybe there was something with my regular race car, but it’s very difficult to find out what in aback-to-back test, so I asked to leave my regular race car at home and take the test car toEstoril. I have to say I also like this track and the Chevrolet Lacetti in any case likes circuitswith lots of camber changes, like here or in Valencia.”
Rob Huff (4 th ): “I’m pretty pleased with fourth and very happy for Nic, he deserves it if anyonedoes. My first set of tyres worked really well, but on the second and third sets the car becamenervous to the point I didn’t always know what it wanted to do. Then two other cars tried to geta tow in the end, which distracted me a bit on that last fast lap. It’s disappointing because I hadthe car to do better.”
Alain Menu (DQ): “I’m very happy for Nic. I didn’t do too bad myself so I was happy to be thirdfastest on the road. Unfortunately at the post-qualifying scrutineering it appeared that the fireextinguisher of my car was empty, so my times were disallowed and I will have to start from theback of the grid. It’s a great shame to thus lose the potential the car has, as it would haveallowed me to be competitive in the races.”
ESTORIL QUALIFYING RESULTS
1. N Larini Chevrolet Lacetti 1m47s3252. R Rydell SEAT Leon TDI +0s150DQ A Menu Chevrolet Lacetti +0s2813. J Gené SEAT Leon TDI +0s3284. R Huff Chevrolet Lacetti +0s3835. A Priaulx BMW 320si +0s399
