Huff fastest in Estoril practice
Briton Robert Huff was fastest in the final practice session before qualifying at Estoril, as the World Touring Car Championship returns to the Portuguese former Formula One venue after last year's Porto street race
Schnitzer BMW driver Jorg Muller was second fastest, ahead of Huff's RML Chevrolet Lacetti teammate Alain Menu.
Huff expressed satisfaction that his time of 1:48.079 was achieved on used rubber, but remains cautious about his race prospects.
"We didn't have new tyres on for that lap, compared to other people who I know did," Huff said. "It was the first proper lap that I have hooked up all weekend. You never seem to be driving the same lap twice here because the track changes so much that and the car is also proving hard to drive."
Yvan Muller had been fastest in practice one for SEAT, while the Frenchman's championship leading teammate Gabriele Tarquini was almost a second adrift of Muller's time of 1:48.331. Tarquini finished twelfth in both sessions, compromised by carrying a maximum 70kg of success ballast.
"What's going to be interesting for me is to see how Tarquini gets on with 70kg," said Huff. "He should be nowhere, but he is somewhere. He keeps setting fastest first sector times, and sector one is just a long straight and powering out of a slow corner. He does seem to be struggling elsewhere around the lap, though."
Tarquini was a double winner at the circuit, with Alfa Romeo, in the European series in 2003.
James Thompson's N-Technology Honda Accord suffered an engine failure in each session and is likely to receive a ten-place grid penalty for requiring an engine change.
Practice one: Pos Driver Car Time 1. Yvan Muller SEAT 1:48.331 2. Augusto Farfus BMW 1:48.376 + 0.045 3. Nicola Larini Chevrolet 1:48.406 + 0.075 4. Tiago Monteiro SEAT 1:48.462 + 0.131 5. Alain Menu Chevrolet 1:48.494 + 0.163 6. Tom Coronel SEAT 1:48.592 + 0.261 7. Felix Porteiro BMW 1:48.642 + 0.311 8. Robert Huff Chevrolet 1:48.649 + 0.318 9. Andy Priaulx BMW 1:48.702 + 0.371 10. Rickard Rydell SEAT 1:48.789 + 0.458 11. Jorg Muller BMW 1:48.789 + 0.458 12. Gabriele Tarquini SEAT 1:48.793 + 0.462 13. Pierre-Yves Corthals SEAT 1:49.088 + 0.757 14. Sergio Hernandez BMW 1:49.158 + 0.827 15. Jordi Gene SEAT 1:49.232 + 0.901 16. Alex Zanardi BMW 1:49.250 + 0.919 17. Tom Boardman SEAT 1:49.483 + 1.152 18. Franz Engstler BMW 1:50.005 + 1.674 19. Stefano D'Aste BMW 1:50.055 + 1.724 20. Oliver Tielemans BMW 1:50.540 + 2.209 21. Kristian Poulsen BMW 1:50.653 + 2.322 22. Jaap van Lagen Lada 1:50.961 + 2.630 23. Ibrahim Okyay BMW 1:51.493 + 3.162 24. Viktor Shapovalov Lada 1:51.852 + 3.521 25. Andrey Romanov BMW 1:52.507 + 4.176 26. James Thompson Honda
Practice two: Pos Driver Car Time 1. Robert Huff Chevrolet 1:48.079 2. Jorg Müller BMW 1:48.196 + 0.117 3. Alain Menu Chevrolet 1:48.222 + 0.143 4. Augusto Farfus BMW 1:48.288 + 0.209 5. Tom Coronel SEAT 1:48.597 + 0.518 6. Nicola Larini Chevrolet 1:48.730 + 0.651 7. Felix Porteiro BMW 1:48.741 + 0.662 8. Rickard Rydell SEAT 1:48.790 + 0.711 9. Sergio Hernandez BMW 1:48.804 + 0.725 10. Tiago Monteiro SEAT 1:48.947 + 0.868 11. Andy Priaulx BMW 1:49.242 + 1.163 12. Gabriele Tarquini SEAT 1:49.270 + 1.191 13. Franz Engstler BMW 1:49.281 + 1.202 14. Tom Boardman SEAT 1:49.388 + 1.309 15. Pierre-Yves Corthals SEAT 1:49.435 + 1.356 16. Jordi Gene SEAT 1:49.688 + 1.609 17. Stefano D'Aste BMW 1:49.698 + 1.619 18. Alex Zanardi BMW 1:49.804 + 1.725 19. Yvan Muller SEAT 1:50.069 + 1.990 20. James Thompson Honda 1:50.552 + 2.473 21. Oliver Tielemans BMW 1:50.690 + 2.611 22. Kristian Poulsen BMW 1:51.150 + 3.071 23. Andrey Romanov BMW 1:51.370 + 3.291 24. Jaap van Lagen Lada 1:51.474 + 3.395 25. Ibrahim Okyay BMW 1:52.304 + 4.225 26. Viktor Shapovalov Lada 1:52.538 + 4.459
Share Or Save This Story
Autosport 70: Why Portimao is the right home for the Portuguese GP
FV8 3.5 race winner Orudzhev switches to title-winning AVF team
How the post-Renault 3.5 series is shaping up
Why the WEC's BoP blackout is a bad call for all parties
Are F1's technical changes for Miami enough to ease 2026 concerns?
FIA confirms changes to 2026 F1 rules ahead of Miami GP
Wolff warns against ADUO “gamesmanship”: Only one F1 manufacturer has a problem
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