Suzuka, FP1 - Huff fastest on the wet track

Only Alain Menu nearly managed to oust his team-mate from the top of the time sheet

By Franck Drui

22 October 2011 - 03:20
Suzuka, FP1 - Huff fastest on the (...)

The tarmac was wet after morning showers, and Rob Huff set the fastest lap in the early stages, posting a 58.657 that nobody was able to improve.

Only Alain Menu nearly managed to oust his team-mate from the top of the time sheet, but his best attempt (58.697) was slower by 40 thousandths.

Minutes after completing his fast lap, Huff had a hot moment when he was forced to swerve to the outside of the last turn in avoidance of Fabio Fabiani’s slower car; the Chevrolet skidded sideways on the grass, but the Briton was able to bring it back on the racing line.
Tiago Monteiro was third fastest with a lap of 58.918, and the last driver to go under the 59-second mark.

Yvan Muller (59.007), Robert Dahlgren (59.284) and Gabriele Tarquini (59.332) filled the positions between fourth and sixth, while Darryl O’Young ranked seventh (59.354) and topped the Yokohama Trophy. Tom Coronel (59.416) was eighth and best of the BMW contingent.

The session was disrupted once by the red flag after ten minutes, when Robert Dahlgren beached his Volvo at the East shortcut. The Swede got back to the pits, but was not allowed to rejoin because he had been towed off the gravel trap.

Both Masaki Kano and Fabio Fabiani were shown the black flag as they did not pit after they were called in by the black-and-orange flag because their headlights were not working.

Pos. Driver Car Time Gap
01 R. Huff Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 58.657
02 A. Menu Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 58.697 +0.040s
03 T. Monteiro SR Leon 1.6T 58.918 +0.261s
04 Y. Muller Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 59.007 +0.350s
05 R. Dahlgren Volvo C30 59.284 +0.627s
06 G. Tarquini SR Leon 1.6T 59.322 +0.665s
07 D. O’Young Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 59.354 +0.697s
08 T. Coronel BMW 320 TC 59.416 +0.759s
09 K. Poulsen BMW 320 TC 59.426 +0.769s
10 M. Bennani BMW 320 TC 59.507 +0.850s
11 C. Turkington BMW 320 TC 59.639 +0.982s
12 J. Villa BMW 320 TC 59.685 +1.028s
13 M. Nykjaer SR Leon 1.6T 59.689 +1.032s
14 Y. Taniguchi Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 59.774 +1.117s
15 N. Michelisz BMW 320 TC 59.874 +1.217s
16 A. Dudukalo SR Leon 1.6T 59.885 +1.228s
17 F. Barth SR Leon 1.6T 59.911 +1.254s
18 T. Arai Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 59.939 +1.282s
19 F. Engstler BMW 320 TC 1:00.057 +1.400s
20 P. Oriola SR Leon 1.6T 1:00.123 +1.466s
21 H. Yoshimoto SR Leon 1.6T 1:00.580 +1.923s
22 C. Ng BMW 320 si 1:00.600 +1.943s
23 M. Kano BMW 320 TC 1:00.793 +2.136s
24 F. Fabiani BMW 320 si 1:03.460 +4.803s

WTCR

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