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Corinthians' Doornbos tops practice

Robert Doornbos set the pace in practice for Corinthians ahead of qualifying for the final round of the Superleague Formula season at the new Navarra track in northern Spain

The Dutchman lapped in 1m26.255s with four minutes of the second 40-minute session remaining, and only Craig Dolby (Tottenham Hotspur) came close with a 1m26.324s. Frederic Vervisch was third fastest for outgoing champion Liverpool, another tenth in arrears.

With the title to be decided this weekend, Dolby was the quickest of the protagonists, although AC Milan's Yelmer Buurman topped the first session. Buurman was only eighth fastest in session two, three places behind points leader Davide Rigon (Anderlecht).

Max Wissel (FC Basel) had a late mechanical scare in the second session when his engine cover had to come off, delaying his final run. He was down in 14th, while Olympiacos' Ben Hanley was almost two seconds off the pace in 15th, having been eighth in session one.

A red flag disrupted the second session when comeback kid Chris van der Drift, returning for the first time since his Brands Hatch horror crash, stopped on track at Turn 12 on his fifth lap. The former Olympiacos star completed 18 laps in the first session, but was only 16th fastest for new club Galatasaray.

The draw for this afternoon's group qualifying sessions has produced an interesting result, with four of the five title protagonists - AC Milan, Anderlecht, Olympiacos and Basel - in Group A. Tottenham has no title-challenging opposition to beat in Group B.

Practice one:

Pos  Driver               Team                        Time       Gap
 1.  Yelmer Buurman       AC Milan                    1m26.915s
 2.  Frederic Vervisch    Liverpool FC                1m27.282s  + 0.367s
 3.  Davide Rigon         RSC Anderlecht              1m27.302s  + 0.387s
 4.  John Martin          Beijing Guoan               1m27.458s  + 0.543s
 5.  Alvaro Parente       FC Porto                    1m27.550s  + 0.635s
 6.  Marcos Martinez      Sevilla FC                  1m27.624s  + 0.709s
 7.  Robert Doornbos      Corinthians                 1m27.639s  + 0.724s
 8.  Ben Hanley           Olympiacos                  1m27.841s  + 0.926s
 9.  Andy Soucek          Flamengo                    1m27.846s  + 0.931s
10.  Craig Dolby          Tottenham Hotspur           1m27.954s  + 1.039s
11.  Esteban Guerrieri    PSV Eindhoven               1m28.025s  + 1.110s
12.  Franck Perera        Girondins de Bordeaux       1m28.072s  + 1.157s
13.  Adrian Valles        Sporting Clube de Portugal  1m28.097s  + 1.182s
14.  Max Wissel           FC Basel                    1m28.382s  + 1.467s
15.  Tristan Gommendy     Olympique Lyonnais          1m28.640s  + 1.725s
16.  Chris van der Drift  Galatasaray                 1m28.892s  + 1.977s
17.  Maxi Cortes          AS Roma                     1m29.510s  + 2.595s
18.  Maria de Villota     Atletico de Madrid          1m29.725s  + 2.810s

Practice two:

Pos  Driver               Team                        Time       Gap
 1.  Robert Doornbos      Corinthians                 1m26.255s
 2.  Craig Dolby          Tottenham Hotspur           1m26.324s  + 0.069s
 3.  Frederic Vervisch    Liverpool FC                1m26.418s  + 0.163s
 4.  Franck Perera        Girondins de Bordeaux       1m26.458s  + 0.203s
 5.  Davide Rigon         RSC Anderlecht              1m26.578s  + 0.323s
 6.  Adrian Valles        Sporting Clube de Portugal  1m26.744s  + 0.489s
 7.  Alvaro Parente       FC Porto                    1m26.751s  + 0.496s
 8.  Yelmer Buurman       AC Milan                    1m27.077s  + 0.822s
 9.  Marcos Martinez      Sevilla FC                  1m27.138s  + 0.883s
10.  Tristan Gommendy     Olympique Lyonnais          1m27.298s  + 1.043s
11.  John Martin          Beijing Guoan               1m27.306s  + 1.051s
12.  Esteban Guerrieri    PSV Eindhoven               1m27.417s  + 1.162s
13.  Andy Soucek          Flamengo                    1m27.611s  + 1.356s
14.  Max Wissel           FC Basel                    1m28.000s  + 1.745s
15.  Ben Hanley           Olympiacos                  1m28.224s  + 1.969s
16.  Maria de Villota     Atletico de Madrid          1m28.942s  + 2.687s
17.  Chris van der Drift  Galatasaray                 1m29.484s  + 3.229s
18.  Maxi Cortes          AS Roma                     1m29.854s  + 3.599s

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