BMW QUALIFYING - Weather: Hot - Ambient temperature 36ºC - Track temperature 48ºC.
Andy Priaulx wrote his name into the history books in Dubai by taking pole for the first FIA ETCC race to be run on the new Dubai Autodrome that officially opens this week. Andy's BMW Team Great Britain BMW 320i was over half a second quicker than the privateer Alfa Romeo of Luca Rangoni, while third was the works Alfa of Gabriele Tarquini.
Andy was delighted with his first ETCC pole of the year and commented: "I was fairly certain yesterday that we could have a good qualifying if we got everything together and we have done that. It was just a question of doing a really fast, clean and tidy lap so I could get the best out of the car. We experimented a lot with the set up. I didn't know what time I could do, but I knew we could be quick. I am not worrying about the championship, I am just going to go out and try and win as many races as I can and let the championship take care of itself."
The meeting is definitely not going so well for the other championship contenders, Dirk Müller and Jörg Müller in the BMW Team Deutschland cars. Dirk, who is leading Andy in the championship by 12 points, could only manage 10th. Meanwhile Jörg, who is third in the table 17 points behind Dirk, was 9th. Dirk's comment after the session was: "It was not a bad car. On my first run on new tyres there were cars on used tyres battling with me and that ruined my lap. Then on the second set I made a mistake." Jörg's simple comment was: "I can't find any grip." This was a sentiment echoed by both BMW Team Italy-Spain drivers, Alex Zanardi and Antonio Garcia. They were all amazed at the time set by Andy which was nearly a second faster than the next quickest BMW.
With the absence of the newly crowned Independents Trophy driver, Tom Coronel, and his Carly Motors team, there is just one BMW driver fighting for this category in Dubai. This is Carl Rosenblad in the Crawford Racing car and he was 5th in class and 17th overall.
BMW Team Deutschland - Schnitzer Motorsport No 42 - Jörg Müller (GER) 9th - 2m 12.615s - 10 kilos ballast No 43 - Dirk Müller (GER) 10th - 2m 12.771s - 40 kilos ballast
BMW Team Great Britain - RBM No 11 - Andy Priaulx (GBR) 1st - 2m 11.688s - 20 kilos ballast
BMW Team Italy-Spain - Ravaglia Motorsport No 4 - Alex Zanardi (ITA) 16th - 2m 13.584sNo 5 - Antonio Garcia (ESP) 13th - 2m 13.019s
BMW Privateer Teams Crawford Racing - No 27 - Carl Rosenblad (SWE) 17th - 2m 14.009s
Results: 1. Andy Priaulx (GBR/BMW 320i) 2m 11.688, 2. Luca Rangoni (ITA/Alfa Romeo) 2m 12.194s, 3. Gabriele Tarquini (ITA/Alfa Romeo) 2m 12.205s, 4. James Thompson (GBR/Alfa Romeo) 2m 12.270s, 5. Augusto Farfus Jr (BRA/Alfa Romeo) 2m 12.282s, 6. Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA/Alfa Romeo) 2m 12.510s.
