Priaulx and BMW on pole

Things have changed a lot since Marrakech. Due to the results of the three previous races, the weights of the cars have been readjusted and the three manufacturers are in the same boat. Well, not all... In the meantime, Andy Priaulx gave BMW its first pole of the season.

Published on 16/05/2009 à 16:45

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Rififi in the Pau paddock. A few days ago, upon arriving in Béarn, Seat Sport learned that its Leon TDIs were seeing their turbo pressure reduced. The resulting loss of power prevented them from playing the leading roles and finished these qualifications in 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th and 21st places respectively. Rickard Rydell was ahead of Jordi Gené, Gabriele Tarquini and Yvan Muller, with Tiago Monteiro being the least well positioned. The question is whether, out of discontent, the official Seats drove at full speed. Are we going to start our tour of the paddock?

Eliminated in Q1, the Seat boys left the BMW and Chevrolet drivers, but also three independents (Coronel, Porteiro, Engstler), to fight it out. And although Augusto Farfus (BMW) was in Pau as at home, Andy Priaulx dislodged his teammate from pole in the final minutes by only 11 thousandths of a second!

Third in this Q2, Tom Coronel was also ranked best private driver. Even if it cannot be completely considered as such, it is rare that one of them ranks in the Top 3. But as the Dutchman from the Sunred team repeated, everything is possible in Pau. Sunday's races therefore hold their share of surprises, Jörg Müller (BMW), Rob Huff, Alain Menu and Nicola Larini (all three at Chevrolet) being placed in ambush.