Rob Huff is celebrating his third Macau Pole Position in three years after topping the final qualifying session of the 2011 FIA World Touring Car Championship, a Pole Position which gives Chevrolet the record of every available Pole Position from qualifying.
Sharing the front row with Huff for the opening race is fellow Chevrolet team-mate and reigning Champion, Yvan Muller – who finished a mere 0.268s behind Huff.
Qualifying took place in dry conditions and produced its fair share of drama – and included in that drama was the third Chevrolet of Alain Menu. He had contact late on with a slower car and was unable to make it through to the second part of qualifying. Menu will line up in twelfth for both races on Sunday.
Menu is understandably unhappy with what happened in qualifying: “I am obviously very frustrated with my qualifying, as I think I could have done very well. I was on my fast lap and I had been the fastest in sector 1, when I literally stumbled on Couto, who was on a slow lap, in the twisty corners of sector 2. He did not give me enough way and we had contact, which left my front right wheel open. I managed to bring the car back to the pits, but there was not enough time for repairs, and missed the top ten, which in a circuit like this means you basically lose all your chances for Sunday…”
Huff also got a positive qualifying result in the second part of qualifying, as he finished eighth fastest in the session which leaves him third on the grid after the grid reversal. He hopes to make full use of his two positive grid positions in Sunday’s races: “I am, of course, extremely happy with today’s pole position, which reconfirms the special bond I have with this circuit. It’s a good start to the weekend where the only strategy is to go for it flat out! My title chances do not depend on my results only, so the best thing I can do is try to win both races, using the advantage of starting ahead of Yvan in both races.”
With Saturday not featuring any on track action for the WTCC field, Muller is hoping to make up for a semi disappointing qualifying session by improving the balance of the car ready for the two races around the streets of the former Portuguese Enclave.
Muller said: “I am not entirely satisfied with my qualifying, especially with Q1, but the situation is what it is. We knew Rob is usually very fast here in Macau and he confirmed it. We’ll try to further improve the balance of the car from here to Sunday and I will have to take a very strategic approach to both races, trying to stay as close to Rob as possible.”
The Chevrolet team can also celebrate having Independent Darryl O’Young on Pole in the Yokohama Independents’ for the first race – the bamboo engineering driver lines up fourth overall.
Eric Neve is predicting a brace of lively and exciting races Sunday – with two of his teams’ drivers sharing the front row and both of them gunning for the title: “We have always been competitive in Macau, and the tradition is respected, but this time we left the competition 1.2 seconds behind, which is impressive. Twelve poles in twelve rounds is a great achievement for the entire team and something unprecedented in the WTCC! With Rob and Yvan sharing the front row and the battle for the title still open, I think we are going to see two lively and exciting races on Sunday!”