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| CHEVROLET'S BEST PERFORMANCE EVER IN QUALIFYING |
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| Huff 3rd and Menu 5th in Brands Hatch |
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| BRANDS HATCH, May 20th, 2006 — Rob Huff and Alain Menu will start from the third and fifth position on the grid respectively in tomorrow's first race of the Brands Hatch round of the World Touring Car Championship, after achieving for the Chevrolet WTCC team the best performance ever so far in a qualifying session. Nicola Larini, in his first appearance in the legendary and difficult Kentish circuit, completed the good day for the Chevrolet Lacettis. |
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| The qualifying session was unpredictable and breath-taking until the very last second, by courtesy of a typical British weather, which has delighted drivers and race fans with a succession of showers and strong wind, and has posed tricky strategic choices to all teams. The 30-minutes session started with light rain and a wet track. Just when it seemed that the sky was becoming darker and heavier rain was to be expected, the opposite actually happened and the last ten minutes were ran on slicks, with lap times getting faster and faster and positions changing continuously. |
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| Chevrolet drivers were particularly quick in the early and wettest stage of the session, with the three Lacettis among the top five and both Huff and Menu holding the pole position provisionally. With a little bit more than ten minutes left before the chequered flag, the Chevrolet drivers took the track with slick tyres, confirming the competitiveness of the car in the fierce fight of the closing laps. |
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| Alain Menu explained the tactical difficulty of this kind of situation: “We were right in setting immediately some fast laps in the wet, as you never know whether it is going to rain more heavily a little bit later. On the contrary, we may have been putting on the slicks a little bit too early. But there again, it was not clear what the weather would be like in the very last minutes”. |
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| The Swiss driver, however, was delighted with his performance. “The car is handling better than yesterday and I had a number of good lap times”, he said. “I could have improved my best time by one or two tenths, but I had a slight off in the grass in my penultimate lap and was slowed down by a yellow flag in the last one”. Nicola Larini was also not unhappy, considering his little experience in Brands, but reckoned: “My best time was quite a good time at the moment I did it, but I think we should have waited 4-5 more minutes before mounting the slicks”. |
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| Rob Huff, in his home race, was one of the heroes of the day, finishing third fastest and first Brit, a performance which was warmly celebrated by his numerous fans present to support him. Nevertheless, he could not avoid hitting the tyre wall in his very final lap. “I guess I wanted to give some work to the guys”, he said. “I was catching up on Rydell and having a last try for the pole, when I went wide at Westfield, spinning in the grass. Luckily, the tyre wall played its role and absorbed most of the shunt. The car looks worse than it actually is. I think the damage is mostly cosmetic. Otherwise, everything went very well. The chassis is really fine, we are quite fast in Paddock bend and that is important to keep the pace in the rest of the track. We are pretty good in the rain and I wouldn't mind at all a wet race!” |
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| The atmosphere was cheerful among the Chevrolet Racing crew after this positive performance. “What is most encouraging”, underlined Chevrolet's Europe Motorsport Manager Eric Nève, “is that we have been fast consistently throughout all practice sessions and that we have been regularly closing the gap with the fastest car, gaining over half a second since yesterday. This proves that the team has been working in the right direction and that we have made real progress. And also shows that testing done in the wet in Brands during the winter, although on the shorter Indy track, has been useful. Given the circuit and the weather conditions, tomorrow the race will certainly be exciting for the spectators here and race fans at home. Let's cross our fingers!” |
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| > | Monza Italy (01 - 02 April) |
| > | Magny Cours France (29 - 30 April) |
| > | Brands Hatch Great Britain (20 - 21 May) |
| > | Oschersleben Germany (03 - 04 June) |
| > | Curitiba Brazil (01 - 02 July) |
| > | Puebla Mexico (29 - 30 July) |
| > | Brno Czech Republic (02 - 03 September) |
| > | Istanbul Turkey (23 - 24 September) |
| > | Valencia Spain (07 - 08 October) |
| > | Macau Macau (18 - 19 November) |
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