N.TECHNOLOGY RACING NEWSN.Technology - FIA World Touring Car Championship

01.04.2006 Augusto Farfus will start his Alfa Romeo 156 from third place on the grid in tomorrow's season opening FIA WTCC race after setting a fastest time just 0.125s off pole during final qualifying today

The reigning World Touring Car champion will begin the new season from pole position. Andy Priaulx, with a lap of 2:00.254 secured prime position on the grid with just two minutes left on the clock. Alongside him on the front row will be Yvan Muller for SEAT Sport who had posted a time 0.106 seconds slower off the pace in the early stages of the session.

The third best time on the grid was a lap time of 2:00.561 set by Brazilian Augusto Farfus in his N.technology Alfa Romeo 156 with just 19 thousandths of a second denying him a spot alongside Priaulx on the front row. The opening rounds of the 2006 FIA World Touring Car Championship take place at Monza tomorrow.

Practice 1

The new season, the second edition of the FIA World Touring Car Championship, got underway in earnest this morning at Monza with two practice sessions before the grid for race one tomorrow would be settled in a final qualifying session. The first practice session of the season season saw Jörg Müller posting the fastest time of 2:00.787 in his BMW 320si. The field was closely packed behind him however, with the top twelve times being all within one second of each other.

Salvatore Tavano set the second fastest lap at the wheel of his N.technology Alfa Romeo 156 while the top three were completed by a SEAT, driven by Briton James Thompson. Just behind was his team-mate Yvan Muller, 0.512 of a second off the pace, while Rydell posted the 6th best time. Reigning champion, Andy Priaulx set the fifth best lap. The fastest of the Chevrolet team of three was Robert Huff, 15th overall. Nicola Larini did not take part in the session due to an exhaust problem. In the Independents' category it was Tom Coronel who completed the best lap of 2:01.751 to place him 12th overall. He was closely followed by Emanuele Naspetti who was 13th quickest.

Practice 2

Priaulx was the hottest of the field in the second free practice session for more than one reason. He set the fastest lap of 2:01.367 but suddenly stopped on the track after the chequered flag when a short circuit caused a fire inside his car. Yvan Muller and Rickard Rydell ensured SEAT's presence in the top times by setting the 2nd and 4th quickest laps overall. They were 0.170 and 0.296 seconds behind Priaulx respectively.
 

GIANNI MORBIDELLI - ALFA ROMEO 156

Salvatore Tavano will start from the seventh row of the grid for the opening FIA World Touring Car Championship race in Monza tomorrow after posting a best lap of 2:01.105 in the final qualifying session held this afternoon.

GIANNI MORBIDELLI - ALFA ROMEO 156

For his first race at the wheel of the N.technology run Alfa Romeo 156, experienced Italian racer Gianni Morbidelli will line up in seventh place on the starting grid in Monza tomorrow.


However Alfa Romeo's Augusto Farfus managed to squeeze between them in third position with a lap in 2:01.653. While Alessandro Zanardi set the 5th fastest time 0.344 off the pace. Nicola Larini was out on the track after missing the earlier session and headed the Chevrolet team with a time of 2:01.759 securing the 7th position overall. Tom Coronel set again the best lap time of the independent competitors despite joining the session with just 9 minutes remaining. The session was even closer than the first one, with 19 drivers covered by only one second.

Qualifying

The qualifying session saw a BMW and SEAT front row with Andy Priaulx. However Alfa Romeo's Augusto Farfus claimed third slot on the grid for tomorrow's opening race, continuing the good recent form that saw him set a string of fastest times during the official Monza tests last month, and then be consistently on the pace in this morning's two free practice sessions. His new team mates Gianni Morbidelli and Salvatore Tavano, both of whom have had limited time at the wheel of the Alfa 156 so far, posted the seventh and thirteenth fastest qualifying times.

Morbidelli turned in a quickest lap of 2:00.809, just 0.555 of a second away from Prilaux's fastest qualifying time, while Tavano's best lap was a 2:01.105, which left him 0.851 of a second shy of the pole sitter. In fact, the top fifteen times were all within nine tenths of a second indicating the potential for two breathtaking opening races for the 2006 season tomorrow.

With this race also combining with the Italian Touring Car Championship season opener several private Alfa 156s appeared further down the running order. Alessandro Balzan was 22nd overall (2:01.884), Elio Marchetti 28th (2:02.942) and Riccardo Romagnoli 31st (2:03.398). Mixing it into this bunch was Czech youngster Jiri Janak who is taking part in the opening rounds of the FIA WTCC at Monza this weekend before making a decision as to whether to contest further races. He will line up 30th on the grid tomorrow after posting a quickest lap time of 2:03.341.
 
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Photos: FIA WTCC / © 2006 Interfuture Media/Italiaspeed