14.11.2003 ANDRE COUTO GRABS POLE POSITION IN HIS ALFA ROMEO 147 FOR SUNDAY'S MACAU RACE

André Couto and his Nordauto Alfa Romeo 147 had to improve four times their qualifying time, before they managed to steal pole position from Simon Harrison’s GR Asia Honda Integra. The Macanese driver, who had clocked the second fastest lap in yesterday’s first qualifying with a time of 2:41.311, went down to 2:40.499 on his first lap out of the pits today.

Then he improved to 2:40.408, and again to 2:40.375; however this was not enough to beat Harrison’s 2:40.098 obtained in the first session. On his fourth attempt Couto finally set an astonishing 2:39.499, which granted him pole position, and eventually was able cut another six tenths, to fix the new lap record for Super Production cars at 2:38.864, almost two seconds faster than last year’s pole, Huisman in 2:40.786. It is the first pole position for Couto on his home racetrack, where he won the 2000 F3 Grand Prix, and also the first for Alfa Romeo in the Guia Race.

In the final stages of the session, Couto’s rivals also managed to improve, but none of them was capable to threaten his pole position. Duncan Huisman, the Guia Race winner in 2001 and 2002, drove his Carly Motors BMW 320i to the second position with a time of 2:39.231, meaning a gap of 0.367 from the pole. Harrison was clocked at 2:39.659, which gave him the third spot of the grid, while Huisman’s team-mates at Carly Motors, Andy Priaulx and Jörg Müller, were classified fourth and fifth respectively.

The session was red-flagged once, with twenty minutes left, when Heung Tak Chan’s Honda Integra crashed into the barrier at Moorish Hill. In accordance with the tradition, tomorrow the Guia circuit will host the Motorcycle Grand Prix; cars will get back on Sunday, with the Guia Race to be run on two 12-lap legs, from 10:30 local time. Guia Race;

combined qualifying: 1. André Couto (Nordauto Alfa Romeo 147), 2:38.864; 2. Duncan Huisman (Carly Motors BMW 320i) 2:39.231; 3. Simon Harrison (GR Asia Honda Integra Type-R) 2:39.659; 4. Andy Priaulx (Carly Motors BMW 320i) 2:40.308; 5. Jörg Müller (Carly Motors BMW 320i) 2:40.407; 6. Franz Engstler (Engstler Motorsport BMW 320i) 2:40.657; 7. Peter Scharmach (Schubert Motorsport BMW 320i) 2:40.836; 8. Nobuteru Taniguchi (Team Advan Toyota Altezza) 2:42.064; 9. Marc Hennerici (Engstler Motorsport BMW 320i) 2:43.335; 10. Kenneth Look (Ghiasports Honda Integra) 2:44.268.

André Couto was delighted to obtain his first pole position on his home Guia circuit: “I’m so happy. The team did a good job from the beginning, and we managed to improve the car every time we hit the track. Today we have changed something in the set up, and already in this morning’s practice we saw it was working. The handling was much better in the uphill part of the track, and I was able to be much quicker in the final qualifying.

"I was expecting the BMW drivers to close on to the pole position time, because they always have a good car here, and this is exactly what they did. Now I’m very confident for Sunday’s race. I hope my car will prove as consistent on the race distance as it was today.” If Couto wins on Sunday, he will be the first driver to win both, the F3 Grand Prix and the Guia Race after local legend John McDonald; however also Jörg Müller can do it. “It would be fantastic to do this on the 50th anniversary of the Macau Grand Prix,” Couto said.

Yesterday the first qualifying session had seen Simon Harrison claim provisional pole position at the wheel of a GR Asia Honda Integra on Yokohama tyres. The Briton was clocked at 2:40.098, which was a massive improvement compared to the time of 2:40.786 achieved by Duncan Huisman in 2002.

After his fastest time in the first practice, André Couto and his Nordauto Alfa Romeo 147 set the second fastest qualifying time with a lap in 2:41.311, meaning a 1.213 gap from the pole. Andy Priaulx ranked third and first of the Carly Motors’ BMW drivers, setting his fastest time at 2:41.673; his team-mates Huisman and Jörg Müller were classified fifth and eighth respectively. Couto’s car and the three Carly Motors BMWs are all on BF Goodrich tyres.

The 45-minute session was red-flagged three times. Once after twenty minutes, when Man Kit Lui’s Integra spun at Fishermen’s bend, then five minutes later when Naoya Yamano’s Honda Integra (breakdown) and James Kaye’s Honda Civic (crash) stopped along the racetrack, and finally when Heung Tak Chan’s Honda Integra crashed with six minute left. The session did not resume after the third interruption.

After the conclusion of opening qualifying André Couto was not disappointed after he was demoted from first in the free practice to second in the qualifying: “The car is good and the team is doing a good job. I’m taking my time to get used to the car, and I feel more and more confident. Today I had a few problems with traffic on the track, but I know that tomorrow I have to push harder.” Do you think that it will be possible to beat Harrison’s time tomorrow? “I don’t know yet. I’ll tell you tomorrow.“