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
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments