Donington - FP1: Huff proves the best... sailor
Many drivers experienced aquaplaning
In a grey morning and under pouring rain, Rob Huff and Yvan Muller swapped positions on top of the time sheet as they consistently improved the fastest lap and inflicted a one-second gap to the rest of the field.
Eventually Huff clocked the session’s best time of 1:51.058, beating Muller’s 1:51.308.
Tiago Monteiro was the best of the rest, third with a lap of 1:52.299 after the team solved the engine problem his SUNRED car has had during yesterday’s test. Robert Dahlgren set the fourth fastest lap (1:52.311) in his Volvo C30, followed by an impressive Pepe Oriola who was classified fifth and best of the Yokohama Trophy with a lap of 1:52.748.
Alain Menu and Michel Nykjær took sixth and seventh respectively ahead of a BMW quartet. In very critical conditions for rear-wheel drive, Tom Coronel emerged as the fastest at the wheel of the German car, posting the eighth best time of 1:53.467, just fractions of a second faster than Franz Engstler, Kristian Poulsen and Mehdi Bennani.
Grip conditions on the tarmac were changeable and tricky and many drivers experienced aquaplaning on the puddles and drove wide or spun. All of them were able to rejoin and most avoided contact with the barriers, but Fabio Fabiani who kissed the tyre wall at Goddards.
Pos. | Driver | Car | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
01 | R. Huff | Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | 1:51.058 | |
02 | Y. Muller | Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | 1:51.306 | +0.248s |
03 | T. Monteiro | Seat Leon 2.0 TDI | 1:52.299 | +1.241s |
04 | R. Dahlgren | Volvo C30 | 1:52.311 | +1.253s |
05 | P. Oriola | SR Leon 1.6T | 1:52.748 | +1.690s |
06 | A. Menu | Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | 1:53.152 | +2.094s |
07 | M. Nykjaer | SR Leon 1.6T | 1:53.348 | +2.290s |
08 | T. Coronel | BMW 320 TC | 1:53.467 | +2.409s |
09 | F. Engstler | BMW 320 TC | 1:53.523 | +2.465s |
10 | K. Poulsen | BMW 320 TC | 1:53.651 | +2.593s |
11 | M. Bennani | BMW 320 TC | 1:53.866 | +2.808s |
12 | F. Barth | SR Leon 1.6T | 1:54.156 | +3.098s |
13 | Y. Taniguchi | Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | 1:54.503 | +3.445s |
14 | G. Tarquini | Seat Leon 2.0 TDI | 1:55.063 | +4.005s |
15 | J. Villa | BMW 320 TC | 1:55.437 | +4.379s |
16 | N. Michelisz | BMW 320 TC | 1:55.493 | +4.435s |
17 | C. Turkington | BMW 320 TC | 1:55.679 | +4.621s |
18 | D. O’Young | Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | 1:56.389 | +5.331s |
19 | A. Dudukalo | SR Leon 1.6T | 1:56.463 | +5.405s |
20 | F. Fabiani | BMW 320 si | 2:07.256 | +16.198s |
WTCR
Malaysia, Race 3: Kristoffersson takes victory as Michelisz claims title
Malaysia, Race 2: Guerrieri wins to set-up final-round title decider with Michelisz
Malaysia, Race 1: Michelisz triumph to extend points lead
New tracks plus weight rule tweak as WTCR revs up for next three seasons
More on WTCR