Despite showing strong flashes of potential during the practice sessions the three N.technology factory Alfa Romeo drivers' were unable to repeat this during the damp final qualifying session at Brands Hatch with Gianni Morbidelli in 12th place edging out his team mates Augusto Farfus (15th) and Salvatore Tavano (22nd). After the poor showing at Magny-Cours last time out, a track that didn't suit the Alfa 156, the N.technology team are keep to get their title challenge back on track during the third round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship which takes place at Brands Hatch tomorrow.

The meeting kicked off with an extra 30 minute practice session yesterday as the teams got acclimatised to the track which has joined the FIA WTCC calendar for the first time this year. Demonstrating that the Alfa 156 has potential at this track Tavano was second-quickest, two-tenths off former Alfa Romeo driver James Thompson who now drives for SEAT. Tavano went second fastest again in this morning's opening practice session but the Italian spun out during the second session, hitting a tyre wall and leaving the N.technology mechanics with plenty of work to do to patch his car up for this afternoon's qualifying session.

Tavano was unable to get the best out of the car in the timed session and eventually wound up 2.702 seconds off SEAT driver Rickard Rydell's pole winning time (1:34.493) after setting a best lap of 1:37.195. Gianni Morbidelli, who spun off at the same place as Tavano during the opening session, recovered well and was eventually the quickest of the factory Alfa Romeo trio, his fastest lap of 1:35.772 being 1.279 seconds off pole, and planting him on the sixth row of the grid. N.technology's Brazilian team leader Farfus posted a 1:35.869, 1.376 seconds off pole, which will see him start race one tomorrow from 15th place.

The Alfa Romeo drivers' all set their best times right at the end of the qualifying session and were steadily working their way into a good groove as the chequered flag was waved. Morbidelli and Tavano both hit the same section of tyre wall during the morning's practice sessions which compromised their qualifying efforts. With solid performances tomorrow Morbidelli and Farfus are very well placed to work their way into the top ten in race one and then benefit from the higher finishing positions grid reversal for race two.

PRACTICE 1

The name at the top of the timesheet changed as many times as the weather for the first practice session of the day. Huff, Rydell, Thompson and Priaulx all had a spell as fastest but Yvan Muller of SEAT posted a 1:35.013 which was the quickest overall. Salvatore Tavano of N.technology posted the second best time, 0.404 seconds behind Muller. Spaniard Jordi Gené was the third quickest with a lap of 1:35.489 at the wheel of his SEAT León. Andy Priaulx, who was fourth fastest overall, set the best BMW time of 1:35.602 followed by fellow Briton James Thompson and the young Peter Terting. Alain Menu, completed the best lap of the Chevrolet crew, 7th overall. Piers-Yves Corthals of JAS Motorsport led his independent competitors at the wheel of a Honda Accord Euro R. The Belgian driver's time of 1:36.524 was 15th overall and 0.290 seconds better than fellow independent driver Tom Coronel who was 16th overall.

The session begun on a damp track, which caused a few drivers to spin. Gianni Morbidelli was the driver to suffer the most as on his first flying lap he spun his Alfa Romeo 156 at Sheene Curve, damaging his car. Red flags were issued as half of his car was stranded on the track. Minutes after the session resumed, the weather took a turn for the worse and the final ten minutes of the session were run during heavy rain.
 

PRACTICE 2

SEAT showed strength in the second practice session with the top four lap times being set by a León. James Thompson was the quickest of them all with a time of 1:34.668 which was set half way into the session. Behind him was Yvan Muller who's best lap was 0.021 seconds off Thompson's. At the wheel of his Chevrolet Lacetti, Alain Menu drove a 1:35.080 lap, placing him ahead of his team-mates and 5th overall. The 6th best time was set by BMW Team Germany man Dirk Müller, who shot up from towards the bottom of the table by setting a 1:35.134 with 13 minutes remaining. Jordi Gené was 7th fastest overall followed by a quartet of BMW 320si cars driven by Costa, Priaulx, Zanardi and Jörg Müller respectively. Augusto Farfus had a best lap of 1:35.446 in his Alfa Romeo to be classified 12th overall. Tom Coronel took command of the independent field for the session and his time of 1:35.496 placed him 5th overall at one stage before the rest of the field improved moving him down the time sheet to 14th.

In a scenario that resembled a re-play of this morning's incident, an Alfa 156 spun at Sheene Curve and crashed into the tyre wall. This time however, it was Tavano at the wheel. Moments later, Emmet O'Brien of Wiechers Sport fell fowl of the same slippery area of the track and spun but avoided making contact with the barrier. The red flag was issued and with just 3 minutes left on the clock the session was not resumed.

QUALIFYING

Never before has the FIA WTCC seen such a breathtaking qualifying session. On a track that was driying as the session progressed, the name at the top of the timesheet changed a total of 18 times before Rickard Rydell secured pole for SEAT in the closing stages. With a time of 1:34.493 he will start ahead of the field tomorrow joined by team-mate Peter Terting on the front row. Chevrolet achieved its best qualifying result so far after Rob Huff posted a spectacular 1:34.675 which placed him 3rd on the grid at his home race. On the last lap however he took a hard crash at Westfield Bend after going wide. Alain Menu will line up 5th; the two Chevrolet men being separated by Yvan Muller in his SEAT León.

James Thompson looked strong throughout the entire session until, with 6 minutes remaining, he had to pit with a problem. Meanwhile, the field had changed to slicks to capitalise on the drying track. The times were falling dramatically and leaving Thompson to fall down to 20th. He managed to rejoin the session with moments to spare and salvaged a time of 1:35.102 which was good enough for 6th on the grid.

Andy Priaulx was the fastest of the BMW drivers in 10th place with a time of 1:35.668. Dirk Müller will begin Race 1 behind him after posting the 11th best time. The Alfa Romeo team's best lap was completed by Gianni Morbidelli, it was 12th fastest of the entire field. Two independent drivers made it into the top ten. Tom Coronel of GR Asia and Pierre-Yves Corthals of JAS Motorsport will line up among the works drivers in 7th and 9th positions respectively.