Bamboo Engineerings cars complete Muller, Menu and Huff 1-2-3
It was a blistering qualifying session for the works and independent Chevrolet Cruzes, which took five of the top six places in qualifying in Curitiba,Brazil, today.
Yvan Muller clinched his third pole position of the year, preceding Alain Menu and Rob Huff. Chevrolets near clean sweep at the top was completed with the excellent results of the two Cruzes entered by privateer Bamboo Engineering team.
Michel Nykjr and Alex McDowall took 4th and 6th positions respectively, in what is the best qualifying performance of the Bamboo cars so far. Gabriele Tarquini in a SEAT took 5th place for Sundays Race of Brazil.
The Cruzes proved particularly effective on the technical circuit in Parans state capital in a dry and cool day that provided perfect racing conditions. Tomorrow will see Races 15 and 16 in the WTCC calendar.Chevrolet currently leads the Manufacturers standings by just under 200 points. The three Chevrolet drivers occupy the top spots in the Drivers standings.
QUOTES
Yvan Muller (1st): I am extremely happy with this pole position because it was not easy tobe back on the track again after a relatively long break. It was a very closely-fought qualifyingsession. My team mates were in quite a good shape and we all worked very well throughoutthe various sessions.
In Q2, my first two attempts were not that good, but the third clinched it and everything wentwell and the pole was mine.
Alain Menu (2nd): I am very happy with the second-fastest time, its a great result. The setup for the Free Practice 2 was slightly off but we sorted matters out by qualifying. I couldhave gained a few thousandths of a second here and there, but Yvan set a very good timeand I dont think I could have beaten him to pole in this session.
Rob Huff (3rd): It was a slightly disappointing qualifying for me, but it was a great teamperformance. In my fast lap, I managed good times in sectors 1 and 2, but lost in the third asI couldnt get on the throttle fully in turn 8, the fastest one. Ill try to make up in the racestomorrow.
Eric Nve: Chevrolet had a great qualifying session today. One important aspect tohighlight is the excellent result obtained by the two Bamboo Engineering cars, which are inthe top six and dominated the Independents rankings. I think its the first time there are somany Cruzes so high in qualifying.
CURITIBA QUALIFYING RESULT1. Y Muller Chevrolet Cruze 1m22s2892. A Menu Chevrolet Cruze + 0s1553. R Huff Chevrolet Cruze + 0s3034. M Nykjr Chevrolet Cruze + 0s4765. G Tarquini SEAT Len WTCC + 0s6586. A McDowall Chevrolet Cruze + 0s797
CURITIBA RACE 2 GRID POSITIONS1. N Michelisz BMW 320 TC2. T Coronel BMW 320 TC3. T Monteiro SEAT Len WTCC4. D OYoung SEAT Len WTCC5. A Mc Dowall Chevrolet Cruze8. R Huff Chevrolet Cruze9. A Menu Chevrolet Cruze10. Y Muller Chevrolet Cruze
WTCC DRIVERS STANDINGS AFTER CURITIBA Q21. Muller (Chevrolet), 250; 2. Huff (Chevrolet), 230; 3. Menu (Chevrolet), 214; 4. Coronel(BMW), 140; 5. Tarquini (SEAT), 136
WTCC MANUFACTURERS STANDINGS AFTER CURITIBA Q21. Chevrolet, 587 points; 2. BMW, 389, 3. SEAT, 372.
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