[More Pictures]

Farfus, Menu pace Valencia test.

Wednesday, 16th April 2008

BMW and Chevrolet lead the way in Spain.

Augusto Farfus and Alain Menu led the way during a two-day World Touring Car Championship test session at Valencia.

The opening day saw Farfus on top for BMW Team Germany, the Brazilian posting the fastest time of the day in the morning session with a lap of 1min42.990secs. Farfus was also the only driver to go under the 1min 43secs barrier on the day.

Second fastest was his team-mate Jorg Muller closely followed by SEAT pairing Jordi Gene and Yvan Muller, with Nicola Larini rounding out the top ten.

Advertisement [Go Advertisement Free]

On the first proper test with the new Honda Accord, James Thompson spent most of the opening afternoon in the garage as the team worked on his car and rejoined the session in the last 30 minutes, setting a best lap of 1min 44.168secs.

Having taken over at the wheel from Nicola Larini, Alain Menu's Chevrolet Lacetti set the pace during the second day.

Like Farfus yesterday, the Swiss driver benefitted from the fresher temperature of the morning session to post the fastest time with a lap of 1min 42.886secs. Jorg Muller was again second ahead of Farfus, while Tom Coronel created a surprise posting the fourth best time of the day at the wheel of his SUNRED SEAT León TFSI. The Dutchman who took part for the first time in a WTCC official test completed his best lap in 1min 43.335secs, only four-tenths off Menu's best time.

Thompson and the N.Technology team continued work to set up the brand new Honda Accord Euro R, with the Briton improving his lap time by over half a second, while in the afternoon, 26-year old Spaniard José Manuel Pérez-Aicart tested the SUNRED petrol-powered SEAT León. Pérez-Aicart will take part in the WTCC meeting at Valencia for winning the 2007 SEAT León Supercopa.

Testing times – 15 April:

1. Augusto Farfus BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 1min 42.990secs
2. Jorg Muller BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 1min 43.307secs
3. Jordi Gene SEAT Sport SEAT Leon TDI 1min 43.356secs
4. Yvan Muller SEAT Sport SEAT Leon TDI 1min 43.397secs
5. Nicola Larini Chevrolet Chevrolet Lacetti 1min 43.534secs
6. Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Sport SEAT Leon TDI 1min 43.622secs
7. Tom Coronel SUNRED SEAT Leon TFSI 1min 43.691secs
8. Felix Porteiro BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 1min 43.737secs
9. Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK BMW 320si 1min 44.098secs
10. James Thompson N.Technology Honda Accord 1min 44.168secs
11. Alex Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 1min 44.534secs

Testing times – 16 April:

1. Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Lacetti 1min 42.886secs
2. Jorg Muller BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 1min 42.994secs
3. Augusto Farfus BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 1min 43.315secs
4. Tom Coronel SUNRED SEAT Leon TFSI 1min 43.335secs
5. Felix Porteiro BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 1min 43.377secs
6. James Thompson N.Technology Honda Accord 1min 43.500secs
7. Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport SEAT Leon TDI 1min 43.809secs
8. Tiago Monteiro SEAT Sport SEAT Leon TDI 1min 43.889secs
9. Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK BMW 320si 1min 44.067secs
10. Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Sport SEAT Leon TDI 1min 44.069secs
11. Alex Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 1min 44.809secs
12. Jose Manuel Perez-Aicart SUNRED SEAT Leon TFSI 1min 45.367secs

Related Images

[Top of Article]