Rydell tops Turkey qualifying
SEAT's Rickard Rydell will start the first of Sunday's World Touring Car Championship rounds from pole position at the Istanbul Park circuit after a rain-affected qualifying session in Turkey
The Swede had edged out the top BMW of Alex Zanardi by 0.138 seconds when the spits of rain that had threatened the session became a steady downpour with a little less than half of the 30-minute session still left to run.
Zanardi had looked a strong bet for his first pole position of the season having topped both of the morning's free practice sessions convincingly. But the rain ended any hope of the top spot.
The SEAT Sport Italia Leon of Gabriele Tarquini will start from the second row of the grid, alongside the French SEAT of Yvan Muller.
Championship leader Andy Priaulx could only qualify 15th, but it was no surprise to the Brit. In fact he had predicted a position on the seventh or eighth row before free practice had even begun.
Priaulx is carrying the maximum amount of 80kg of success ballast this weekend. "All I can hope for is a couple of points this weekend," he said.
But his nearest title rival James Thompson is little better off. He lines up just two places ahead in 13th, with the WTCC's third British driver Rob Huff sandwiching the SEAT and BMW in his Chevrolet Lancetti. Huff, who won last time out at Brno, complained of a down on power engine.
The Alfa Romeos, which dominated in Turkey last year, have not shined so far this weekend. Augusto Farfus, third in the championship at present, was the best of the 156s in seventh, behind Duncan Huisman's BMW and Nicola Larini's Chevy.
Pos Driver Car Time 1. Rickard Rydell SEAT Leon 2:06.289 2. Alessandro Zanardi BMW 320si 2:06.427 + 0.138 3. Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Leon 2:06.486 + 0.197 4. Yvan Muller SEAT Leon 2:06.700 + 0.411 5. Duncan Huisman BMW 320si 2:06.806 + 0.517 6. Nicola Larini Chevrolet Lacetti 2:06.871 + 0.582 7. Augusto Farfus Alfa Romeo 156 2:06.912 + 0.623 8. Dirk Muller BMW 320si 2:07.011 + 0.722 9. Peter Terting SEAT Leon 2:07.061 + 0.772 10. Jordi Gene SEAT Leon 2:07.141 + 0.852 11. Salvatore Tavano Alfa Romeo 156 2:07.151 + 0.862 12. Jorg Muller BMW 320si 2:07.238 + 0.949 13. James Thompson SEAT Leon 2:07.245 + 0.956 14. Robert Huff Chevrolet Lacetti 2:07.367 + 1.078 15. Andy Priaulx BMW 320si 2:07.638 + 1.349 16. Luca Rangoni BMW 320si 2:07.645 + 1.356 17. Tom Coronel SEAT Leon 2:07.823 + 1.534 18. Stefano d'Aste BMW 320i 2:07.895 + 1.606 19. Pierre-Yves Corthals Honda Accord Euro R 2:07.936 + 1.647 20. Gianni Morbidelli Alfa Romeo 156 2:08.326 + 2.037 21. Maurizio Ceresoli SEAT Leon 2:08.462 + 2.173 22. Alain Menu Chevrolet Lacetti 2:08.675 + 2.386 23. Diego Romanini BMW 320i 2:09.503 + 3.214 24. Ibrahim Okyay BMW 320i 2:10.755 + 4.466
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