Gene Gets First Pole for New Leon
Jordi Gene delighted his home fans by taking the first ever WTCC pole position for the new SEAT Leon at Valencia in Spain on Saturday
The Spaniard topped the timesheets early in the session with a one minute 43.067 seconds lap and, although that time would have been good enough to keep him on top, he eventually bettered it on his final lap with a one minute 42.778 seconds.
Gene's teammate Peter Terting set the second fastest time to secure an all SEAT front row, while Dirk Muller boosted his championship ambitions with the third quickest time with an effort right near the end of the session.
Muller's main title rivals had a torrid session however, with Alfa Romeo's Fabrizio Giovanardi down in 13th on the grid and series leader Andy Priaulx down in 15th.
Pos Driver Car Time Laps 1. Jordi Gene SEAT Leon 1:42.778 5 2. Peter Terting SEAT Leon 1:43.093 + 0.315 8 3. Dirk Muller BMW 320i 1:43.277 + 0.499 10 4. Robert Huff Chevrolet Lacetti 1:43.295 + 0.517 11 5. Rickard Rydell SEAT Leon 1:43.326 + 0.548 7 6. Augusto Farfus Jr. Alfa Romeo 156 1:43.361 + 0.583 11 7. Jorg Muller BMW 320i 1:43.487 + 0.709 11 8. Gabriele Tarquini Alfa Romeo 156 1:43.598 + 0.820 11 9. Antonio Garcia BMW 320i 1:43.599 + 0.821 13 10. Nicola Larini Chevrolet Lacetti 1:43.695 + 0.917 9 11. Tom Coronel SEAT Toledo Cupra 1:43.716 + 0.938 10 12. Alain Menu Chevrolet Lacetti 1:43.749 + 0.971 10 13. Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 156 1:43.777 + 0.999 11 14. Stephane Ortelli SEAT Toledo Cupra 1:43.853 + 1.075 10 15. Andy Priaulx BMW 320i 1:43.880 + 1.102 12 16. Adriano De Micheli Honda Accord Euro R 1:43.969 + 1.191 9 17. Carl Rosenblad BMW 320i 1:44.145 + 1.367 11 18. Thomas Klenke Ford Focus 1:44.211 + 1.433 11 19. Marc Carol SEAT Toledo Cupra 1:44.245 + 1.467 12 20. Michael Funke Ford Focus 1:44.287 + 1.509 12 21. Alessandro Zanardi BMW 320i 1:44.394 + 1.616 12 22. Tomas Engstrom Honda Accord Euro R 1:44.454 + 1.676 14 23. James Thompson Alfa Romeo 156 1:44.925 + 2.147 11 24. Stefano D'aste BMW 320i 1:44.946 + 2.168 12 25. Marc Hennerici BMW 320i 1:45.007 + 2.229 9 26. Giuseppe Ciro BMW 320i 1:45.072 + 2.294 11 27. Polo Villaamil SEAT Toledo Cupra 1:45.499 + 2.721 10
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