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Pizzonia lauds team for pole lap

Credit for the first-ever Superleague Formula pole position for Corinthians at Magny-Cours was due to Alan Docking Racing, according to its former Formula 1 racer Antonio Pizzonia

Pizzonia said judging the brake temperature was the crucial aspect to his pole position lap, on which he defeated Liverpool's Adrian Valles by just under three-tenths of a second.

"I'm extremely happy for the team, because they've been working hard on this car - they only got it a week ago," said Pizzonia. "We were playing with the car, trying to get it right. We'd had a few brake temperature problems in earlier runs, but it was really good when it mattered."

Fellow front row starter Adrian Valles bemoaned the fact he was in the second semi-final, which cost him tyre temperature on his Hitech-run Liverpool machine in the final.

"I did a 1m26.4s on old tyres, but because it was a slow in-lap in my semi, we had no time to put the tyre warmers on for the final," said Valles. "I was locking-up everywhere, whereas Antonio was very fast. I think at least we could have been closer to him."

Third-place starter Yelmer Buurman only got his Anderlecht car into the semi-finals when Porto was excluded for cutting the chicane when driver Tristan Gommendy thought Buurman had stranded himself in the gravel and headed for the pits.

"It was crazy, really mad," said Buurman. "When I saw Porto heading for the pitlane I thought, 'oh, this is good!' We only heard he was disqualified just before the semis started, but I lacked speed compared to Adrian [Valles]."

Tottenham's Craig Dolby, who will start fourth, went off at Chateau d'Eau in his semi-final and was bemused as to why: "They told me over the radio that Antonio had outbraked himself at the hairpin. So I backed off, and took it steady, but the back end of the car got away from me."

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