Huff claims team-assisted first WTCC pole of 2012 at the Salzburgring
Factory Chevrolet racer Rob Huff claimed his first World Touring Car pole position of the season on the series' inaugural visit to the Salzburgring
Co-operation between team-mates, in order to facilitate slipstreaming, was evident during qualifying.
In the decisive second session, Huff initially assisted in providing a tow for RML Chevrolet team-mate Alain Menu, who recorded a provisional pole time of 1m26.969s.
The favour was returned at the conclusion of the session when Huff was drafted by Q1 pacesetter and championship leader Yvan Muller to record a fastest time of 1m26.791s.
Muller would also demote Menu, his closest rival in the drivers' standings, to claim second.
Slovakia Ring victor Gabriele Tarquini left it late in Q1 to move into the top 12 and gain passage to Q2. The Italian improved two places over his Q1 performance to secure fourth in the Lukoil Racing SEAT.
British Touring Car graduate Alex MacDowall confirmed his strong practice form for bamboo-engineering to head the third row of race one's grid. MacDowall, the leading Independent, lines up ahead of Tiago Monteiro's Tuenti Racing Leon 1.6T.
Valencia podium finisher Stefano D'Aste (Wiechers-Sport BMW) will start directly ahead of Independents' points leader Pepe Oriola (Tuenti Racing SEAT) on row four of the grid for Sunday afternoon's opening race.
ROAL Motorsport BMW racer Tom Coronel had appeared well-placed to gain a strong slipstream from the factory Chevrolets in Q1 and Q2. But in the first session the Dutchman's close pursuit was cut short by a spin on the exit of the Turn 1 chicane. In Q2 Coronel appeared frustrated behind Menu, and would end the afternoon ninth.
Tarquini's Lukoil Racing SEAT team-mate Aleksei Dudukalo gains pole for the reversed-grid race two courtesy of qualifying 10th in the second session.
Franz Engstler's self-appointed home race did not bring an improvement to the 50-year-old's recent run of racing ill-fortune. The German was punted out of Q1 when Tom Chilton locked the brakes of his Arena Ford Focus, sending the Team Engstler BMW into the gravel.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Robert Huff Chevrolet 1m26.791s 2. Yvan Muller Chevrolet 1m26.933s + 0.142 3. Alain Menu Chevrolet 1m26.961s + 0.170 4. Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil SEAT 1m27.490s + 0.699 5. Alex MacDowall bamboo Chevrolet 1m27.573s + 0.782 6. Tiago Monteiro Tuenti SEAT 1m27.808s + 1.017 7. Stefano D'Aste Wiechers BMW 1m27.927s + 1.136 8. Pepe Oriola Tuenti SEAT 1m28.122s + 1.331 9. Tom Coronel ROAL BMW 1m28.124s + 1.333 10. Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil SEAT 1m28.317s + 1.526 11. Darryl O'Young Special Tuning SEAT 1m28.342s + 1.551 12. Mehdi Bennani Proteam BMW 1m28.373s + 1.582 13. James Nash Arena Ford 1m28.421s Q1 14. Alberto Cerqui ROAL BMW 1m28.424s Q1 15. Norbert Michelisz Zengo BMW 1m28.582s Q1 16. Pasquale di Sabatino bamboo Chevrolet 1m28.858s Q1 17. Franz Engstler Engstler BMW 1m28.913s Q1 18. Charles Ng Engstler BMW 1m29.137s Q1 19. Tom Chilton Arena Ford 1m29.271s Q1 20. Tom Boardman Special Tuning SEAT 1m30.057s Q1 21. Gabor Weber Zengo BMW 1m30.116s Q1 Race two grid: 1. Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil SEAT 2. Tom Coronel ROAL BMW 3. Pepe Oriola Tuenti SEAT 4. Stefano D'Aste Wiechers BMW 5. Tiago Monteiro Tuenti SEAT 6. Alex MacDowall bamboo Chevrolet 7. Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil SEAT 8. Alain Menu Chevrolet 9. Yvan Muller Chevrolet 10. Robert Huff Chevrolet 11. Darryl O'Young Special Tuning SEAT 12. Mehdi Bennani Proteam BMW 13. James Nash Arena Ford 14. Alberto Cerqui ROAL BMW 15. Norbert Michelisz Zengo BMW 16. Pasquale di Sabatino bamboo Chevrolet 17. Franz Engstler Engstler BMW 18. Charles Ng Engstler BMW 19. Tom Chilton Arena Ford 20. Tom Boardman Special Tuning SEAT 21. Gabor Weber Zengo BMW
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