When the FIA WTCC cars line up on the Silverstone starting grid for round five of the championship tomorrow, it will be an Alfa Romeo 1-2-3 on the grid.

In an incredibly exciting qualifying session it was Gabriele Tarquini who set the fastest lap time, an amazing 1:25.639 which is a new lap record for S2000 touring cars. The field was so close that only 0.9 seconds separated the top twelve drivers. Fellow Alfa man, James Thompson was leading the field for some of the session but had to settle for second place as his time was 0.016 seconds off the pole winners'. Former Alfa Romeo FIA European Touring Car Champonship winner Fabrizio Giovanardi, completed the trio and will start from third place on the grid tomorrow.

Right behind him will be the BMW of Andy Priaulx who put in a remarkable performance to secure fourth place considering that his car is carrying 50kg of ballast. Championship leader Dirk Müller spun at Abbey and had to be removed from the gravel, meaning he was not allowed to rejoin due to receiving external aid.

All four of the SEAT cars were among the top ten positions. Young German, Peter Terting headed the team in fifth place with Plato, Rydell and Gené completing the 7th, 8th and 10th quickest laps. Chevrolet will be hoping to obtain their first top-ten finish of the championship by capitalising on Menu’s starting position of 15th with Nicola Larini just behind. Ford Hotfiel Sport continued their struggle to find the right set-up with Klenke qualifying 24th and Jäger 25th. Tom Coronel, of GR Asia qualified 13th - the best of the Independent drivers. 

Gabriele TARQUINI – pole position

“I am really happy because I spent a few good seasons around Britain, I feel quite at home here. I think my performance was really good in qualifying and it’s great to be surrounded by my team-mates.
 

"Tomorrow the show will be as great as ever. I have not noticed the 20 kg weight reduction because we have no comparisons of previous races at this track. I am certain however that the Touring Car Bureau’s decision is making a substantial difference.”

James THOMPSON – 2nd fastest

“Considering Gabriele is half British I guess it is the next best thing to having a Briton on pole. It was very close in the end. This result is great for the team. We had difficulties in Magny Cours and to come here and have a strong showing is exactly how we needed to bounce back. I think we will have a great crowd tomorrow. Traditionally, touring car racing has been the premiere motorsport in this country. I think the chance to see some good old fashioned touring car racing, with veterans and some new boys on the touring car scene is what people want. They love it here and the International circuit lends itself to racing, it’s going to be a fantastic.”

Fabrizio GIOVANARDI – 3rd fastest

“In the free practice my car was very fast, therefore I felt comfortable to push hard in qualifying. Unfortunately I made a mistake which allowed my team-mates to be quicker than me but I am still confident for tomorrow. The starts are always difficult because we know the BMWs are quick off the line, but our cars are fast and over the entire race we will be very competitive."