Porto's Parente takes Beijing pole
Despite missing the previous round due to visa paperwork issues, Alvaro Parente finally made it to China to set Superleague Formula pole position at the new Beijing International street circuit for FC Porto
In the single-lap, head-to-head shootout final, Parente lapped in 1m05.287s to beat Craig Dolby of Tottenham Hotspur by 0.215 seconds.
Parente had outpaced Robert Doornbos (Corinthians) by exactly four tenths of a second in the first semi-final to make it through to the pole shoot-out. The second semi saw Dolby defeat Roma's Julien Jousse by six tenths after impressively dipping into the 1m04s bracket.
In the quarter-finals, Parente outpaced series returnee Paul Meijer (Atletico Madrid) by a quarter of a second. Doornbos got an easy path to the semis when he was paired against Andy Soucek, who was unable to take part due to a big crash in his group session. After setting a fast enough time to progress already, Soucek clipped the tyre wall as he entered final quick chicane, from where he was a passenger as his Flamengo car ploughed into the wall on the pits straight.
Jousse defeated Franck Perera (Bordeaux) by just over a tenth of a second in the tense all-French clash that followed in the next quarter, while Dolby easily beat Tristan Gommendy (Lyon) by the much larger margin of almost a second in the other quarter-final.
Earlier, Dolby was fastest in Group A, ahead of Soucek - whose crash stopped the session early. Those to be knocked out at this stage were Giacomo Ricci (Galatasaray), Yelmer Buurman (AC Milan), Ben Hanley (Olympiacos), Frederic Vervisch (Liverpool), John Martin (Beijing Guoan) and Ordos hero Earl Bamber (PSV Eindhoven).
In Group B, there was also a red flag early on. Parente set the pace, and those to drop out included Marcos Martinez (Sevilla), who was squeezed out at the very last moment by just 0.032s. Also out were reigning champion Adrian Valles (Sporting Lisbon), points leader Davide Rigon (Anderlecht), expected frontrunner Max Wissel (Basel) and Team China's Ma Qing Hua.
Sunday's races will be non-championship affairs. The threatened drivers' strike was resolved when a dispute with the race's promoters was settled this morning.
Pos Driver Team Time 1. Alvaro Parente FC Porto 1m05.287s 2. Craig Dolby Tottenham Hotspur 1m05.502s 3. Julien Jousse AS Roma 1m05.606s 4. Robert Doornbos Corinthians 1m05.571s 5. Franck Perera Girondins de Bordeaux 1m05.909s 6. Tristan Gommendy Olympique Lyonnais 1m06.521s 7. Paul Meijer Atletico de Madrid 1m06.186s 8. Marcos Martinez Sevilla FC 1m05.686s 9. Giacomo Ricci Galatasaray 1m06.110s 10. Adrian Valles Sporting Clube de Portugal 1m05.888s 11. Yelmer Buurman AC Milan 1m06.197s 12. Davide Rigon RSC Anderlecht 1m06.025s 13. Ben Hanley Olympiacos 1m06.412s 14. Max Wissel FC Basel 1m06.097s 15. Andy Soucek Flamengo 16. Frederic Vervisch Liverpool FC 1m06.426s 17. Ma Qing Hua Team China 18. John Martin Beijing Guoan 1m06.510s 19. Earl Bamber PSV Eindhoven 1m06.855s
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