The two Cruzes of Nicola Larini and Rob Huff are in a good position to fight for podium finishes tomorrow in the WTCC’s Race of Germany, after taking the third row in Saturday’s qualifying in Oschersleben. The decisive two sessions were heavily influenced by changing weather conditions, which prevented Alain Menu to make it to Q2, having set the 19th time in Q1.
Rain started at the very beginning of Q1 and its intensity increased throughout the session, which made the first laps the fastest of the session. In Q2, the scenario reversed, with the track dryingup at the end of the session. Danish driver Michel Nykjær, who is entering this event on the Chevrolet Lacetti of Perfection Racing, qualified 18th.
• QUOTESNicola Larini (5th): « It was a crazy session, because the weather changed so quickly, buttogether with my engineer I took what turned out to be the right decision: to stay on the track aslong a possible in Q1. In Q2, we did the best we could with the tires we had on. I am happy withthe result, which puts in a good position on the grid for race 1 and I hope we can avoid trouble atfirst corner, which is always a problem here in Oschersleben”.
Rob Huff (6th): “I pushed hard in the first laps of Q1, as I saw that rain was increasing, and evenhad a contact with a BMW, and we did well in that part of qualifying. In Q2, I had provisional polebut after crossing the line, I had to stop the car because it was misfiring. I don’t think that ourstrategy of combined slicks and wets would have allowed us to fight for the pole eventually, butwe are not in a bad position for tomorrow’s race”.
Alain Menu (19th): “Bad luck: after being third in the first laps of Q1, I went into the pits to changetires at the worst moment, as that lap was going to be the fastest of the session, and I remainedout of the top ten”.
Mark Busfield: “It was a very difficult session to call, with a Q1 session that became wetter thanexpected. In Q2, we took a cautious approach with a strategy mixing slick tires on the front andwets on the rear tires, maybe not the ideal solution but quite safe. We have two cars in the topsix, that’s a good result in such unpredictable conditions. Looking at the top ten cars we have anumber of unusual competitors qualifying well, and many consistent high qualifiers low down thegrid, the weather has been a big influence today”.
Eric Nève: “It’s a little bit disappointing not to have the three Cruzes in the top ten, but we havetwo cars well-placed for some good results tomorrow. Clearly, it has been a day where weatherconditions have dictated what was happening on the track”.
OSCHERSLEBEN QUALIFYING RESULTS
1. G Tarquini SEAT León TDI 1m39s8862. M Čolak SEAT León +1s8263. R Rydell SEAT León TDI +2s3264.J Van Lagen Lada Priora +2s4415. N Larini Chevrolet Cruze +3s7606. R Huff Chevrolet Cruze +5s66018. M Nykjær Chevrolet Lacetti 1m44s204 (Q1)19. A Menu Chevrolet Cruze 1m44s259 (Q1)
