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
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 |
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