The Chevrolet Cruzes did not miss their first important rendezvous on American soil, claiming pole position and filling most of the top spots inSaturday's qualifying for the WTCCs first visit ever to the US.
Alain Menu took an incredible pole, his second this year, in the dying seconds of Q2 after anintense battle with teammate Yvan Muller and SEATs Gabriele Tarquini. The Swiss drove aperfect lap on the hilly and technical Californian track, beating his rivals by almost threetenths of a second.
Tarquini took second sport while Muller qualified in third position ahead of teammate RobHuff. Alex MacDowall, on the independently-run Bamboo Engineering Chevrolet Cruze,finished sixth fastest.
In a warm and sunny afternoon, the RML-run Cruzes proved competitive, raising a lot ofexpectations ahead of the two races tomorrow, which could see Chevrolet secure its thirdWTCC Constructors World Champion title with three rounds to go. To achieve this, theCruzes will have to end the day with 42 points more than BMW and 37 more than SEAT.The fight for the Drivers title, for which only the three Chevrolet drivers remain in contention,remains wide open.
QUOTESAlain Menu (1st): Its a great feeling to be on pole on such a driver circuit. I have to thankmy engineer and all the boys because the car was simply perfect. We worked well on the setup and the balance of the Cruze and it paid off.The track conditions evolved between Q1 and Q2 but the car was fantastic throughout. Imanaged a clear lap with no mistakes and the right rhythm, which is so important here.
Yvan Muller (3rd): Alain did a great job today. Third is not bad and I am pleased with that,but I have some regrets because I didnt drive that well, I made a couple of mistakes in thedecisive laps, and I think I had the car to do better. The circuit is definitely not easy
Rob Huff (4th): Im happy with my performance as I could have improved my time by twotenths compared to the time set in Q1. My first fast lap was a bit messy; I made a couple ofmistakes and struggled in turn 2, but the second time round was much better. I am pleasedbecause thats everything I had on my car today. Well work on the set up tonight and I amsure we can make some improvements.
SONOMA QUALIFYING RESULT1. A Menu Chevrolet Cruze 1m45s2322. G Tarquini SEAT Len WTCC + 0s2363. Y Muller Chevrolet Cruze + 0s3074. R Huff Chevrolet Cruze + 0s3405. N Michelisz BMW 320TC + 1s3266. A McDowall Chevrolet Cruze + 1s346
SONOMA RACE 2 GRID POSITIONS1. S DAste BMW 320 TC2. M Bennani BMW 320 TC3. F Engstler BMW 320 TC4. T Monteiro SEAT Len WTCC5. A MacDowall Chevrolet Cruze6. N Michelisz BMW 320 TC7. R Huff Chevrolet Cruze8. Y Muller Chevrolet Cruze9. G Tarquini SEAT Len WTCC10. A Menu Chevrolet Cruze
WTCC DRIVERS STANDINGS AFTER SONOMA Q21. Muller (Chevrolet), 290; 2. Huff (Chevrolet), 272; 3. Menu (Chevrolet), 255; 4. Tarquini(SEAT), 166; 5. Coronel (BMW), 150;
WTCC MANUFACTURERS STANDINGS AFTER SONOMA Q21. Chevrolet, 685 points; 2. BMW, 432, 3. SEAT, 430.
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