German TV presenter Christina Surer became the first woman to contest in the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo series, as it made its Spanish debut at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona.
Surer got behind-the-wheel of a 570 hp Super Trofeo race car, a derivative of the Gallardo LP 560-4, to complete today's qualifying session ahead of the weekend's racing action. Surer secured 11th place on the grid for team-mate and Automovil journalist Juan Collín with a fastest lap of 1:17.704.
"I really love the Super Trofeo car: it has so much horsepower!" said Surer. "My lap times are OK and I have found a lot of time between free practice and qualifying, so I think I will be even faster in the race tomorrow." #22 Petri Corse Current Pro Drivers'
Standings leader Fabio Babini set the fastest time during the 30-minute qualifying session, lapping in 1:15.036, putting team-mate Claudio Rossetto on pole for tomorrow's race.
The front row of the grid was closely contested, with Reiter Engineering's Peter Kox setting the second fastest lap time towards the end of the session, less than two hundredths of a second behind the pole-setter. Ferruccio Bellini secured third place on the grid for Bonaldi Motorsport, having set a lap time of 1:15.961, with Lamborghini Racing Eastern Europe's #88 starting alongside after new driver to the series Adam Lacko set the fourth fastest lap.
Former Formula One driver Ivan Capelli also made a guest appearance in a team Automobili Lamborghini VIP car alongside El Mundo journalist Jaime Hernandez. Capelli's time of 1:17.059 secured 10th. "The Petri Corse car is working well for us yet again," said pole-setter Babini. "We made some small set-up changes after free practice earlier today and the car is perfect. Kox was very close to our time in this session, but I am happy for the race tomorrow."
Qualifying results
1. Babini/Rossetto (#22), Petri Corse 1:15.036 2. Hayek/Kox (#24), Reiter Engineering 1:15.051 3. Bellini (#3), Bonaldi Motorsport 1:15.961 4. Scheublein/Lacko (#88), Lamborghini Racing Eastern Europe 1:16.142 5. Dijkstra/van de Zwaan (#16), Schoolmaster 1:16.325 6. Janis/Dostal (#77), Lamborghini Racing Eastern Europe 1:16.518 7. Bertocci/Maddalena (#6), Petri Corse 1:16.732 8. Amos (#69), Bonaldi Motorsport 1:16.807 9. C. Leimer/H. Leimer (#63), Autovitesse 1:16.965 10. Capelli/Hernandez (#1), Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A 1:17.059 11. Surer/Collín (#2), Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A 1:17.704 12. Bassetti/de Plano (#66), Petri Corse 1:20.567
