Monteiro takes home pole at Portimao

Date published : 03 Jul 2010 - 17:18:42

Tiago Monteiro will start the first race of his home World Touring Car round from pole position after topping this afternoon's qualifying session at Portimao.The former grand prix driver's flying lap in Q2 edged out Yvan Muller's Chevrolet by just half a tenth, allowing the Portuguese to claim his second WTCC pole and first since Anderstorp in 2007.Monteiro's pole came despite contact with Augusto Farfus early in Q1, after which he had to pit for repairs to his front bodywork before returning to the track to earn his place in Q2.Farfus went on to make it three different marques in the top three, with his only flying lap of Q2 proving 0.034s quicker than reigning world champion Gabriele Tarquini's.Rob Huff and Norbert Michelisz will share the third row of the grid for Sunday's rolling start. Jordi Gene and Andy Priaulx will start seventh and eighth, with Alain Menu and Colin Turkington completing the top 10.Turkington was the only independent runner to make it through to Q2, but had to endure a nervous end to Q1. He posted a time good enough for seventh and headed back to the pits, but was bumped down to 10th by the end as others improved and was the last car to make it through.The SEATs of Michel Nykjaer, Fredy Barth and Tom Coronel were the highest-profile casualties of Q1 in 11th, 14th and 15th places. Coronel reported an oil leak on his Leon TDi after the session.Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 1. Tiago Monteiro SEAT 1:55.931 1:55.372 2. Yvan Muller Chevrolet 1:56.112 1:55.425 3. Augusto Farfus BMW 1:56.200 1:55.675 4. Gabriele Tarquini SEAT 1:56.097 1:55.709 5. Rob Huff Chevrolet 1:56.183 1:55.934 6. Norbert Michelisz SEAT 1:56.479 1:55.991 7. Jordi Gene SEAT 1:56.302 1:56.104 8. Andy Priaulx BMW 1:56.258 1:56.141 9. Alain Menu Chevrolet 1:56.261 1:56.24610. Colin Turkington BMW 1:56.513 1:56.69611. Michel Nykjaer SEAT 1:56.51712. Darryl O'Young Chevrolet 1:56.76613. Harry Vaulkhard Chevrolet 1:56.82814. Fredy Barth SEAT 1:56.90515. Tom Coronel SEAT 1:56.94616. Sergio Hernandez BMW 1:57.50217. Kristian Poulsen BMW 1:57.57818. Franz Engstler BMW 1:57.80319. Mehdi Bennani BMW 1:57.88720. Stefano D'Aste BMW 1:58.00821. Andrey Romanov BMW 2:00.413