Shanghai, FP2: Michelisz chases Huff

Tarquini stopped along the track during the session

By Franck Drui

5 November 2011 - 05:43
Shanghai, FP2: Michelisz chases Huff

Once again Rob Huff was the fastest driver in the session, but in the second practice Norbert Michelisz nearly beat him, clocking a second best lap that was only 0.032 seconds behind.

Huff posted the fastest time of the session (1:06.360) on his first lap out of the pits. The rest of the field improved consistently, although eventually no one was able to set a better mark.

With eight minutes left on the clock Michelisz completed a lap in 1:06.392 and climbed to the second place ahead of Alain Menu (1:06.541), Robert Dahlgren (1:06.595), Yvan Muller (1:06.633) and Tom Coronel (1:06.741).

The top-six were covered by less than four tenths of a second.

Colin Turkington (1:06.889) was classified seventh, followed by an impressive Aleksei Dudukalo (1:06.898) who emerged as the best of the SUNRED racers.

His team-mate Gabriele Tarquini stopped along the track during the session after having posted the 11th fastest lap. “Gabriele felt that something was wrong with the engine and decide to stop in order to avoid major damage. We are investigating…” explained team principal Joan Orús.

Charles Ng preformed a spectacular 360-degree spin at Turn 4, while his fellow Hong Kong countryman Philip Ma provided a thrilling moment when he span at Turn 12, being narrowly avoided by Mehdi Bennani, Franz Engstler and Darryl O’Young.

Pos. Driver Car Time Gap
01 R. Huff Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 1:06.360
02 N. Michelisz BMW 320 TC 1:06.392 +0.032s
03 A. Menu Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 1:06.541 +0.181s
04 R. Dahlgren Volvo C30 1:06.595 +0.235s
05 Y. Muller Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 1:06.633 +0.273s
06 T. Coronel BMW 320 TC 1:06.741 +0.381s
07 C. Turkington BMW 320 TC 1:06.889 +0.529s
08 A. Dudukalo SR Leon 1.6T 1:06.898 +0.538s
09 K. Poulsen BMW 320 TC 1:06.991 +0.631s
10 J. Villa BMW 320 TC 1:07.079 +0.719s
11 G. Tarquini SR Leon 1.6T 1:07.121 +0.761s
12 P. Oriola SR Leon 1.6T 1:07.143 +0.783s
13 Y. Taniguchi Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 1:07.410 +1.050s
14 M. Nykjaer SR Leon 1.6T 1:07.479 +1.119s
15 T. Monteiro SR Leon 1.6T 1:07.571 +1.211s
16 F. Engstler BMW 320 TC 1:07.624 +1.264s
17 D. O’Young Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 1:07.687 +1.327s
18 M. Bennani BMW 320 TC 1:07.975 +1.615s
19 C. Ng BMW 320 TC 1:08.036 +1.676s
20 F. Barth SR Leon 1.6T 1:08.577 +2.217s
21 F. Fabiani BMW 320 si 1:10.504 +4.144s
22 P. Ma BMW 320 si 1:10.900 +4.540s

WTCR

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