Farfus puts BMW on top in Monza test

The World Touring Car Championship descended on Monza today, to begin the European leg of the 2010 season which starts with the WTCC Yokohama Race of Italy this weekend. Set in the picturesque Villa Reale park north of Monza, testing got underway this afternoon on the 5.793 kilometre Autodromo Nazionale with BMW Team RBM’s Augusto Farfus leading the way.

The Brazilian made steady progress throughout the session regaining the top spot with just over 10-minutes to go and improving in the final seconds to record a best lap of 2:01.491. It was a good start for all the manufacturers with Yvan Muller finishing the session second (2:01.831) in his Chevrolet Cruze and Tom Coronel rounding out the top three in his SEAT León TDI (2:01.992). Chevrolet’s Rob Huff (2:02.152) and Alain Menu (2:02.223) finished fourth and fifth respectively.

Huff and Muller were two of the drivers to cut the first chicane as the field got to grips with the high speed challenge of Monza during the 30-minute session. Defending champion Gabriele Tarquini (2:02.323) posted the sixth fastest time while team mate Jordi Gené (2:02.364) was seventh.

Danish newcomer Michel Nykjær (2:02.667) was the best of the rookies finishing eighth overall, while Stefano D’Aste (2:03.200) was the top Independent in ninth. Hungarian rookie Norbert Michelisz (2:03.435) rounded out the top ten.

On his first outing for Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden, Argentine newcomer Leonel Pernía finished thirteenth with a time of 2:03.664 in his Chevrolet Cruze LT.

It was a mixed afternoon for BMW Team RBM with Farfus ending on top while team mate, and Marrakech race winner, Andy Priaulx had a brake disk exploded at the end of the straight. He cut the chicane to avoid hitting Menu who was just ahead, before crawling back to the pit lane.

Rookie Challenge racer Fredy Barth had oil pressure problems so stopped out on track early and then pitted on to avoid any further damage to his SEAT León TDI.

Moroccan Independent racer Mehdi Bennani stopped out on track, but with gearbox problems.
Sergio Hernández did not take part in the session due to technical problems with his BMW 320si, which the team are still investigating.