Suzuka, FP2: Muller restores hierarchy

Charles Ng emerged as the best of the BMW drivers

By Franck Drui

21 September 2013 - 05:55
Suzuka, FP2: Muller restores hierarchy

Current championship leader Yvan Muller restored hierarchy in the second practice. After ranking third behind two Honda cars in the previous session, the RML driver posted a fastest lap of 54.076 and jumped back on top.

Muller’s effort demoted bamboo-engineering’s Alex MacDowall – the best of the Yokohama
Trophy competitors – to second overall (54.279).

As temperatures raised above the 30°C, lap times were slower compared to this morning’s session. Norbert Michelisz was classified third in his Honda (54.303) beating Gabriele Tarquini’s identical car by three thousandths of a second. The same thin gap separated the Italian from Fernando Monje, who placed his SEAT in fifth position.

Charles Ng emerged as the best of the BMW drivers (tenth – 54.395), while James Thompson’s LADA posted the 12th fastest lap (54.439).

The track remained tricky and drivers kept on committing mistakes and spoiling their lap times. Muller, Michelisz, Charles Ng, Tiago Monteiro, Tom Chilton, René Münnich, Pepe Oriola, Filipe de Souza, Ng Kin Veng, Hiroki Yoshimoto and Masaki Kano drove wide in different corners but rejoined. Marc Basseng went off at T4 on the way to improve his seventh fastest lap, he also rejoned.

The RML duo of Muller and Chilton risked disaster when the latter was forced to steer onto the grass to avoid collecting his team-mate due to a misunderstanding.

Because of the hot temperatures and the track’s layout, tyre wear and traffic are expected to be the crucial factors during this afternoon’s qualifying session that begins at 15.30 local time (8.30 CET).

Pos. Driver Car Time
1 Yvan MULLER Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 54.076
2 Alex MACDOWALL Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 54.279
3 Norbert MICHELISZ Honda Civic 54.303
4 Gabriele TARQUINI Honda Civic 54.309
5 Fernando MONJE SEAT Leon WTCC 54.312
6 Rob HUFF SEAT Leon WTCC 54.323
7 Marc BASSENG SEAT Leon WTCC 54.324
8 Tom CHILTON Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 54.340
9 Tiago MONTEIRO Honda Civic 54.390
10 Charles NG BMW 320 TC 54.395
11 James NASH Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 54.408
12 James THOMPSON Lada Granta 54.439
13 Tom BOARDMAN SEAT Leon WTCC 54.519
14 Darryl O’YOUNG BMW 320 TC 54.612
15 Pepe ORIOLA Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 54.713
16 Takuya IZAWA Honda Civic 54.749
17 Tom CORONEL BMW 320 TC 54.875
18 Mehdi BENNANI BMW 320 TC 55.079
19 Yukinori TANIGUCHI BMW 320 TC 55.192
20 Stefano D’ASTE BMW 320 TC 55.266
21 Hiroki YOSHIMOTO Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 55.270
22 René MUNNICH SEAT Leon WTCC 55.387
23 Masaki KANO BMW 320 TC 55.555
24 Mikhail KOZLOVSKIY Lada Granta 55.742
25 Jeronimo BADARACO Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 56.371
26 Filipe de SOUZA Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 56.573
27 Henry HO BMW 320 si 56.673
28 Kin Veng NG Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 56.910
29 Ka Lok MAK BMW 320 si 57.524

WTCR

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