06.09.2003  NICOLA LARINI CLAIMS POLE AS THE ALFAS DOMINATE QUALIFYING AT ANDERSTORP

Nicola Larini confirmed his status of the fastest ETCC driver in Anderstorp, claiming his second consecutive pole position. This was also his third pole position of the year after those in Magny-Cours and Donington Park. The Italian driver massively improved his last year’s fastest time by 1.3 seconds. His Autodelta team-mates Gabriele Tarquini and Roberto Colciago completed the Alfa Romeo supremacy, placing second and third respectively. 

Tarquini’s best time of 1:39.144 was only 0.8 seconds slower than Larini’s pole position time of 1:39.084. Again, the qualifying time showed how tight the competition is in the Championship, with all the 22 drivers covered by only 2.6 seconds. The biggest gap was nearly four tenths between the second and the third, but the remaining positions were even closer. After the three Alfa Romeo men, Jörg Müller qualified the best of the BMW cars in fourth position with a time of 1:39.590, just ahead of another BMW driver, Antonio García (1:39.654). Rickard Rydell and his Volvo S60, second in both the free practice sessions, were classified sixth with a lap in 1:39.684. A one-second improvement from their morning times, proved that Anderstorp is a track that suits the S60. 

Seventh on the grid for tomorrow’s Race One will be Duncan Huisman, in his Carly Motors BMW 320i; with a best lap in 1:39.706, the Dutchman emerged as the fastest of the drivers taking part in the Independents Trophy. Dirk Müller and Andy Priaulx, the two other contenders in the fight for the European title, were a bit disappointed by the results today, having qualified in ninth and tenth positions respectively. But still their gaps from the top of the grid are very narrow. 

Frank Diefenbacher was the fastest of the SEAT drivers. The Spanish cars showed a lack of speed on the straight and Diefenbacher qualified his Toledo Cupra in 14th position, immediately ahead of Jordi Gené’s sister car and the two Podium SEAT Sport Sweden Toledo Cupras of Johan Stureson and Niklas Karlsson. The Swedish drivers were separated by only four thousandths of a second. However Gené will lose his position and will be forced to start from the back of the grid, because the team changed his engine before the qualifying. The two other Swedish guest drivers, Tomas Engström (PRO Motorsport Honda Civic) and Mattias Andersson (Scuderia Bigazzi Alfa Romeo 156) were classified 19th and 22nd in the qualifying session. 

DRIVER QUOTES

Nicola LARINI: “This was a great day for me, as I was constantly the fastest on the track. I think we did a good job. We found a perfect balance for the car, which was particularly good for the qualifying session. It also seems that my car is not suffering from excessive tyre consumption, and this will surely be a great help also in the races. I’m still the only driver fighting for the championship who has not had any race wins, and tomorrow I will try to fill this gap. Obviously having three Alfa cars at the top of the grid is a good result, and hopefully this will help us to keep the BMW drivers behind at the start. We cannot physically leave our doors open…, but it won’t be easy for them to overtake all the three of us.” 

Gabriele TARQUINI: “I’m happy. A second position is a very good result, considering that I never saw this track before and that I am carrying 30-kg ballast in my car. I like the track and I was impressed by the speed we reach while cornering in the banked turns. This was a good start to the weekend, now I have to focus on the races. It’s difficult to say what my strategy tomorrow. I will definitely try to score good points for the Championship, but I feel confident. Despite the ballast I know I can achieve good results.” 

Roberto COLCIAGO: “Everyone was expecting me to be quick here, because I won twice the Swedish Touring Car Championship. However, I have never raced in Anderstorp before. Although I should say that I feel good here in Sweden. I’m sure that tomorrow a lot of spectators will come to the track, because Touring Cars are very popular here. Some of them will come to see me and to support me, which is a great motivation for a racing driver.”