Priaulx fastest in Curitiba warm-up
BMW looks in good shape for today's opening round of the World Touring Car Championship at Curitiba after its two cars set the pace in the morning warm-up
Andy Priaulx and Augusto Farfus only qualified sixth and seventh for today's first race, but the BMW has topped most sessions so far this weekend. It was only the new tyre runs in qualifying trim where Priaulx and Farfus were unable to compete with their Chevrolet and SEAT rivals.
The pair underlined the car's good race pace as Priaulx posted a 1m24.6s lap early in the 15-minute session - similar to the car's practice pace throughout the event. Farfus followed with a 1m24.9s and reigning champion Gabriele Tarquini was the only other driver to dip below a 1m25s.
Pole-sitter Yvan Muller was fourth quickest this morning, setting a 1m25.2s just before a half spin at Turn 1 unsettled his run. Chevrolet team-mates Rob Huff and Alain Menu, who will share the second row of the grid, were seventh and eighth this morning - both in the 1m25.6s.
The session was stopped just under two minutes early when Tom Coronel spun his SEAT Leon TDi into the gravel at the final corner having just set the fifth quickest time. His SEAT team-mate Jordi Gene was sixth. Norbert Michelisz and Tiago Monteiro completed the top 10 in their SEATs, while Franz Engstler's BMW was fastest of the independents in 12th.
Pos Driver Car Time Gap 1. Andy Priaulx BMW 1m24.658s 2. Augusto Farfus BMW 1m24.936s +0.278 3. Gabriele Tarquini SEAT 1m24.988s +0.330 4. Yvan Muller Chevrolet 1m25.266s +0.608 5. Tom Coronel SEAT 1m25.303s +0.645 6. Jordi Gene SEAT 1m25.323s +0.665 7. Rob Huff Chevrolet 1m25.638s +0.980 8. Alain Menu Chevrolet 1m25.642s +0.984 9. Norbert Michelisz SEAT 1m25.778s +1.120 10. Tiago Monteiro SEAT 1m25.790s +1.132 11. Michel Nykjaer SEAT 1m25.820s +1.162 12. Franz Engstler BMW 1m25.995s +1.337 13. Darryl O'Young Chevrolet 1m26.029s +1.371 14. Fredy Barth SEAT 1m26.126s +1.468 15. Sergio Hernandez BMW 1m26.271s +1.613 16. Mehdi Bennani BMW 1m26.331s +1.673 17. Stefano D'Aste BMW 1m26.489s +1.831 18. Harry Vaulkhard Chevrolet 1m27.031s +2.373 19. Andrey Romanov BMW 1m28.319s +3.661
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