Tomorrow, with all the odds stacked firmly against them Augusto Farfus and the N.technology Alfa Romeo team, will take on the toughest challenge they have ever faced: winning the 2006 FIA World Touring Car Championship. The Brazilian will line up 7th on the grid, while his two biggest title rivals, Andy Priaulx and Jörg Müller, who are just one point behind him, will start from pole and 5th slot respectively. On top of this he will carry 80 kg of "success ballast", 5 kg more than Müller and 35 kg more that Priaulx, making him the heaviest car on the track.

However Farfus is still optimistic after two days of track action that saw the N.technology team and the venerable Alfa 156 slowly getting to grips with the vagaries of the Macau street circuit. “Our weekend started very badly and we were improving step by step but we know we are lacking something," said the Brazilian after final qualifying. "However, we are pushing and we believe. I will wait until the end of the second race to see who will become world champion, this is my only target.”

After the final qualifying session finished yesterday there was a flurry of activity. SEAT Sport’s Macau driver André Couto had his best qualifying time disallowed because he failed to stop at the weighing bay. Couto who had posted the 18th fastest lap will therefore be demoted to the 20th on the grid for tomorrow’s Race 1. Chevrolet's Alain Menu will be dropped ten positions on the grids for both Race 1 and Race 2. The penalty is a consequence of an incident that involved the Swiss driver and Dirk Müller during the deceleration lap of the second race at Valencia. The Stewards judged Menu responsible for causing an avoidable collision and imposed a euro 5,000 fine. However, because he had received a suspended penalty of ten grid positions due to a previous collision (with Luca Rangoni at Istanbul), he will be dropped tomorrow.
 

After was among the fastest drivers in the testing and free practice sessions at Macau yesterday and on Thursday, Nicola Larini had a very unlucky qualifying as he crashed at the “R” bend on his first flying lap. The head-on crash also resulted in an engine change on his Chevrolet Lacetti car and consequently a drop of ten positions on the grid for the first race.

Farfus and both his N.technology Alfa 156 team mates Gianni Morbidelli and Luca Rangoni were amongst eleven competitors who have been fined by euro 1,000 for queuing up in the fast lane before the green light at the exit of the pit lane was lit, in breach of Bulletin 1, Article. 2. The offences occurred immediately before the session was resumed following the two red-flag periods. The other drivers to be fined were Duncan Huisman, Fabrizio Giovanardi, Stefano D'Aste, Diego Romanini, Robert Huff, Alain Menu, André Couto and Peter Terting.

Due to the two red-flag periods that disrupted qualifying and the rain that came halfway through the session, eleven drivers could not post a lap time within the qualification limit of 2:44.268. All these drivers – Alessandro Zanardi, Jordi Gené, André Couto, Salvatore Tavano, Robert Huff, Alain Menu, Rickard Rydell, Diego Romanini, Nicola Larini, James Thompson and Ao Chi Hong – have been authorized by the Stewards to take the start.