Rydell tops curious Puebla grid

With SEAT having dominated much of the season, Rydell's performance did not come as a shock, but behind him the pack was shuffled considerably.

Salvatore Tavano, often the slowest of the three semi-works Alfa Romeo drivers, took the outside front row spot, ahead of leading independent Ryan Sharp in his JAS Honda.

The former GP2 star was enjoying by far his best performance since switching to saloons. Although Roberto Colciago had shown great pace in the Honda at Puebla last year, Sharp was still surprised to be so far up the grid.

"I didn't know what to expect, but we knew the car was fast here last here," he said. "It seems to be getting better and better. The car works well in the twisty corners and the banked corners, and everything came together here."

Behind fourth-placed Augusto Farfus, GR Asia SEAT driver Tom Coronel made it two independents in the top five.

The top ten is completed by a horde of works SEATs (Yvan Muller, James Thompson, Gabriele Tarquini and Jordi Gene), and championship leader Andy Priaulx - who was the fastest BMW driver on an underwhelming day for the manufacturer.

Qualifying had been put back two hours due to the newly resurfaced track breaking up in places. The organisers managed to solve the problem but a curious situation developed with the racing line getting faster and faster as the rubber built up, while off-line became more and more treacherous as gravel was dragged onto the circuit.

"The track got worse with the gravel but also got more and more grip on the line," explained Rydell. "Because it's been resurfaced, there's more and more rubber going down, so the track gets quicker on the line, but if you go wide you go onto the gravel."

Surrounded by unfamiliar faces at the front of the field, Rydell is a clear favourite for victory in Sunday's opening race. But having lost several results to collisions already this season, he is not taking anything for granted.

"I hope I can have two clean races tomorrow," said Rydell. "I haven't had much luck this year."

Qualifying times

Pos  Driver                Make                     Time
 1.  Rickard Rydell        SEAT Leon            1:41.259
 2.  Salvatore Tavano      Alfa Romeo 156       1:41.309  + 0.050
 3.  Ryan Sharp            Honda Accord Euro R  1:41.381  + 0.122
 4.  Augusto Farfus        Alfa Romeo 156       1:41.458  + 0.199
 5.  Tom Coronel           SEAT Leon            1:41.757  + 0.498
 6.  Yvan Muller           SEAT Leon            1:41.782  + 0.523
 7.  James Thompson        SEAT Leon            1:41.901  + 0.642
 8.  Gabriele Tarquini     SEAT Leon            1:42.088  + 0.829
 9.  Jordi Gene            SEAT Leon            1:42.094  + 0.835
10.  Andy Priaulx          BMW 320si            1:42.202  + 0.943
11.  Alessandro Zanardi    BMW 320si            1:42.375  + 1.116
12.  Peter Terting         SEAT Leon            1:42.423  + 1.164
13.  Jorg Muller           BMW 320si            1:42.508  + 1.249
14.  Gianni Morbidelli     Alfa Romeo 156       1:42.595  + 1.336
15.  Pierre-Yves Corthals  Honda Accord Euro R  1:42.636  + 1.377
16.  Robert Huff           Chevrolet Lacetti    1:42.669  + 1.410
17.  Dirk Muller           BMW 320si            1:42.972  + 1.713
18.  Stefano D'Aste        BMW 320i             1:42.987  + 1.728
19.  Alain Menu            Chevrolet Lacetti    1:43.273  + 2.014
20.  Luca Rangoni          BMW 320si            1:43.318  + 2.059
21.  Duncan Huisman        BMW 320si            1:43.325  + 2.066
22.  Nicola Larini         Chevrolet Lacetti    1:43.606  + 2.347
23.  Maurizio Ceresoli     SEAT Toledo Cupra    1:44.026  + 2.767
24.  Diego Romanini        BMW 320i             1:44.851  + 3.592
25.  Oscar Hidalgo         BMW 320i             1:47.354  + 6.095