VALENCIA (QUALIFYING), 19 May 2007 – All three works Chevrolet Lacettis qualified inside the top ten for the third round of the 2007 World Touring Car Championship at the Circuito Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, today. Nicola Larini qualified in sixth, just three tenths off the pole position and this despite the Chevrolets having been given a 25-kilogram higher base weight following their Zandvoort success. Alain Menu and Rob Huff qualified in eight and ninth respectively, ideal starting positions to have a strategic advantage for the second race of tomorrow. Nineteen cars qualified within one second of pole position; privateer Maria De Villota, running a Maurer Motorsport Chevrolet Lacetti, qualified in 23rd.

• QUOTES

Nicola Larini (6th): “After free practice I thought a position in the top six should be possible, which is exactly where I ended up. The first set of tyres didn’t work the way they should have due to a pressure problem, but after that everything worked fine. I’m quite confident for the race because my qualifying time is quite unexpected. Until a few minutes before the end I was still in fifth which would have put me on the clean side of the track. I don’t know what will happen in the first corner of the first race, this being the one with the rolling start. But I’ll go flat-out all the way. Maximum attack!”

Alain Menu (8th): “That wasn’t bad! We’re only three tenths off the pace, which is far better than I expected. On my third fast lap, the tyres didn’t work the way they should have, which is a pity because I was alone out there. Still, being in eighth isn’t at all bad for race two.”
 
Rob Huff (9th): “I had a lot of understeer which I just can’t explain. Nothing we changed seemed to cure it. It’s a shame because this is the best car we’ve ever had and Valencia is a track I normally qualify very good at.”

Ray Mallock: “We were obviously disappointed with the extra 25 kilograms added to our base weight after Zandvoort, but I guess it’s a reflection of what a good car the Lacetti is and what a good job our engineers have done in recent months that we are now running at a base weight that is even higher than the BMW’s. Success ballast now becomes crucially influential so it was good to have all three cars in the top ten.”