Huff dominates a shortened test in Porto

"I really love street circuits!"

By Franck Drui

1 July 2011 - 15:43
Huff dominates a shortened test in Porto

Rob Huff dominated the test session on Porto’s Circuito da Boavista. The Briton and his Chevrolet Cruze car emerged as the fastest from the very beginning, improving four times the fastest lap and eventually posting a 2:09.026 that no one was able to match.

Huff’s team-mates Alain Menu and Yvan Muller were second and third fastest with laps of 2:09.667 and 2.09.758 respectively. All the other competitors remained above the 2:10 mark.

Norbert Michelisz was the best of the rest, posting the fourth fastest lap of 2:10.576 just ahead of WTCC comebacker Stefano D’Aste (2:10.814) and an impressive Mehdi Bennani (2:10.969).

With Tom Coronel in seventh, Pepe Oriola was the fastest of the SUNRED drivers, posting the eighth fastest lap of 2:11.950. His team mate Gabriele Tarquini was not able to clock any lap times because on some technical issues. “It looks like a fuel feeding problem,” he explained.

The drivers had a very cautious approach during this first session and no major incidents were reported. However, the session was red flagged (and not resumed) with four minutes on the clock, when Robert Dahlgren’s Volvo C30 hit the barriers at Turn 2 and stopped on the track.

Huff commented: “I really love street circuits! I managed to build up consistently, looking for the grip when I needed it. The car’s balance was fantastic, perfect for this track!”

Pos. Driver Car Time Gap
01 R. Huff Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 2:09.026
02 A. Menu Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 2:09.667 +0.641s
03 Y. Muller Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 2:09.758 +0.732s
04 N. Michelisz BMW 320 TC 2:10.576 +1.550s
05 S. D’Aste BMW 320 TC 2:10.814 +1.788s
06 M. Bennani BMW 320 TC 2:10.969 +1.943s
07 T. Coronel BMW 320 TC 2:10.997 +1.971s
08 P. Oriola SR Leon 1.6T 2:11.950 +2.924s
09 R. Dahlgren Volvo C30 2:12.277 +3.251s
10 M. Nykjaer SR Leon 1.6T 2:12.303 +3.277s
11 J. Villa BMW 320 TC 2:12.310 +3.284s
12 D. O’Young Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 2:12.346 +3.320s
13 F. Barth SR Leon 1.6T 2:12.369 +3.343s
14 A. Dudukalo Seat Leon 2.0 TDI 2:12.598 +3.572s
15 K. Poulsen BMW 320 TC 2:13.038 +4.012s
16 T. Monteiro Seat Leon 2.0 TDI 2:14.077 +5.051s
17 F. Engstler BMW 320 TC 2:14.424 +5.398s
18 Y. Taniguchi Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 2:16.690 +7.664s
19 G. Tarquini Seat Leon 2.0 TDI

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