Menu leads another Chevy grid sweep

Date published : 02 Jul 2011 - 15:07:32

Alain Menu has taken pole for tomorrow's opening World Touring Car Championship race in Porto, leading yet another Chevrolet 1-2-3 in qualifying.Team-mate Yvan Muller had been on top for most of the session, but Menu produced a stunning 2m04.946s lap in the final minutes to put himself 0.3 seconds clear of the Frenchman. Current points leader Rob Huff was just 0.004s behind Muller in third, with 2009 champion Gabriele Tarquini a further 0.3s in arrears in his SUNRED SEAT.Local favourite and fellow SUNRED driver Tiago Monteiro was fifth ahead of ROAL BMW's Tom Coronel, whose hopes of improving upon his position were derailed by a spin at the final corner on his last lap.Team Engslter's Kristian Poulsen had earlier come undone at the same spot with more dramatic results; the Dane taking too much kerb at the entry to the chicane and smacking into the barriers at the exit.Zengo Dension BMW driver Norbert Michelisz was best of the Independents in eighth, just 0.04s ahead of series returnee Stefano d'Aste's Wiechers-Sport BMW.Race one grid:Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Alain Menu Chevrolet 2m04.946s 2. Yvan Muller Chevrolet 2m05.280s + 0.334s 3. Rob Huff Chevrolet 2m05.284s + 0.338s 4. Gabriele Tarquini SUNRED SEAT 2m05.548s + 0.602s 5. Tiago Monteiro SUNRED SEAT 2m05.656s + 0.710s 6. Tom Coronel ROAL BMW 2m06.143s + 1.197s 7. Robert Dahlgren Polestar Volvo 2m06.678s + 1.732s 8. Norbert Michelisz Zengo BMW 2m06.682s + 1.736s 9. Stefano D'Aste Wiechers BMW 2m06.722s + 1.776s10. Franz Engstler Engstler BMW 2m06.770s + 1.824s11. Michel Nykjaer SUNRED SEAT 2m07.021s Q112. Darryl O'Young Bamboo Chevrolet 2m07.066s Q113. Fredy Barth SUNRED SEAT 2m07.071s Q114. Javier Villa Proteam BMW 2m07.072s Q115. Kristian Poulsen Engstler BMW 2m07.134s Q116. Pepe Oriola SUNRED SEAT 2m07.361s Q117. Aleksei Dudukalo SUNRED SEAT 2m08.480s Q118. Yukinori Taniguchi Bamboo Chevrolet 2m10.123s Q1Race two grid:Pos Driver Team/Car 1. Stefano D'Aste Wiechers BMW 2. Yvan Muller Chevrolet 3. Rob Huff Chevrolet 4. Tiago Monteiro SUNRED SEAT 5. Robert Dahlgren Polestar Volvo 6. Franz Engstler Engstler BMW 7. Norbert Michelisz Zengo BMW 8. Tom Coronel ROAL BMW 9. Alain Menu Chevrolet10. Gabriele Tarquini SUNRED SEAT11. Michel Nykjaer SUNRED SEAT12. Darryl O'Young Bamboo Chevrolet13. Fredy Barth SUNRED SEAT14. Javier Villa Proteam BMW15. Kristian Poulsen Engstler BMW16. Pepe Oriola SUNRED SEAT17. Aleksei Dudukalo SUNRED SEAT18. Yukinori Taniguchi Bamboo ChevroletRace one grid: Q2 top 10, Q1 times from 11thRace two grid: Q1 top 10 reversed then Q1 times from 11th