Farfus quickest in Zolder test

Augusto Farfus (1:40.096) topped the timesheets in testing for his BMW Team RBM’s local event this afternoon in Zolder, finishing ahead of Yvan Muller (1:40.259) and teammate Andy Priaulx (1:40.311).

Testing got underway at Circuit Zolder today as the World Touring Car Championship makes its first ever visit to the Belgian racetrack this weekend. Brazil’s Farfus was consistently at the sharp end but it was his final lap of the session that jumped him from fifth to first as the chequered flag came out. It was a good start to the weekend for BMW Team RBM, who is based less than a 150 km up the road in Mechelen, with Priaulx also in the top three.

Bamboo-engineering’s Darryl O’Young leapt up the order in the second half of the session, recording a time of 1:40.507 to end fourth, topping the Independents’ and Rookie categories in his Chevrolet Lacetti. SR-Sport’s Tom Coronel (1:40.647) rounded out the top five.

After spending the middle portion of the session in the pits, Chevrolet’s Rob Huff (1:40.883) posted the sixth quickest time ahead of teammate Alain Menu (1:40.961). After being quickest at the halfway point, Jordi Gené (1:41.123) ended the afternoon eighth in his SEAT León TDI with reigning champion Gabriele Tarquini posting exactly the same time down to a thousandth of a second around the 4-km circuit.

Local hero Vincent Radermecker (1:41.244) rounded out the top ten on his season debut for Chevrolet, while his fellow countryman Pierre-Yves Corthals set the 21st fastest lap (1:43.279).

The 30-minute session was free of any major incidents with Sergio Hernández spinning his BMW 320si at Turn 1 in the closing minutes.