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Alain Menu leads another Chevrolet top three grid sweep in Porto

Alain Menu has taken pole for tomorrow's opening World Touring Car Championship race in Porto, leading yet another Chevrolet 1-2-3 in qualifying

Team-mate Yvan Muller had been on top for most of the session, but Menu produced a stunning 2m04.946s lap in the final minutes to put himself 0.3 seconds clear of the Frenchman. Current points leader Rob Huff was just 0.004s behind Muller in third, with 2009 champion Gabriele Tarquini a further 0.3s in arrears in his SUNRED SEAT.

Local favourite and fellow SUNRED driver Tiago Monteiro was fifth ahead of ROAL BMW's Tom Coronel, whose hopes of improving upon his position were derailed by a spin at the final corner on his last lap.

Team Engstler's Kristian Poulsen had earlier come undone at the same spot with more dramatic results; the Dane taking too much kerb at the entry to the chicane and smacking into the barriers at the exit.

Zengo Dension BMW driver Norbert Michelisz was best of the Independents in eighth, just 0.04s ahead of series returnee Stefano d'Aste's Wiechers-Sport BMW.

Race one grid:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car          Time       Gap
 1.  Alain Menu          Chevrolet         2m04.946s
 2.  Yvan Muller         Chevrolet         2m05.280s  + 0.334s
 3.  Rob Huff            Chevrolet         2m05.284s  + 0.338s
 4.  Gabriele Tarquini   SUNRED SEAT       2m05.548s  + 0.602s
 5.  Tiago Monteiro      SUNRED SEAT       2m05.656s  + 0.710s
 6.  Tom Coronel         ROAL BMW          2m06.143s  + 1.197s
 7.  Robert Dahlgren     Polestar Volvo    2m06.678s  + 1.732s
 8.  Norbert Michelisz   Zengo BMW         2m06.682s  + 1.736s
 9.  Stefano D'Aste      Wiechers BMW      2m06.722s  + 1.776s
10.  Franz Engstler      Engstler BMW      2m06.770s  + 1.824s
11.  Michel Nykjaer      SUNRED SEAT       2m07.021s  Q1
12.  Darryl O'Young      Bamboo Chevrolet  2m07.066s  Q1
13.  Fredy Barth         SUNRED SEAT       2m07.071s  Q1
14.  Javier Villa        Proteam BMW       2m07.072s  Q1
15.  Kristian Poulsen    Engstler BMW      2m07.134s  Q1
16.  Pepe Oriola         SUNRED SEAT       2m07.361s  Q1
17.  Aleksei Dudukalo    SUNRED SEAT       2m08.480s  Q1
18.  Yukinori Taniguchi  Bamboo Chevrolet  2m10.123s  Q1

Race two grid:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car
 1.  Stefano D'Aste      Wiechers BMW
 2.  Yvan Muller         Chevrolet
 3.  Rob Huff            Chevrolet
 4.  Tiago Monteiro      SUNRED SEAT
 5.  Robert Dahlgren     Polestar Volvo
 6.  Franz Engstler      Engstler BMW
 7.  Norbert Michelisz   Zengo BMW
 8.  Tom Coronel         ROAL BMW
 9.  Alain Menu          Chevrolet
10.  Gabriele Tarquini   SUNRED SEAT
11.  Michel Nykjaer      SUNRED SEAT
12.  Darryl O'Young      Bamboo Chevrolet
13.  Fredy Barth         SUNRED SEAT
14.  Javier Villa        Proteam BMW
15.  Kristian Poulsen    Engstler BMW
16.  Pepe Oriola         SUNRED SEAT
17.  Aleksei Dudukalo    SUNRED SEAT
18.  Yukinori Taniguchi  Bamboo Chevrolet

Race one grid: Q2 top 10, Q1 times from 11th
Race two grid: Q1 top 10 reversed then Q1 times from 11th

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