Navarra: Atech Reid qualifying report

Buurman on the Money for Championship Finale

Yelmer Buurman will start from grid 3 tomorrow after a solid qualifying session this afternoon in Navarra. The AC Milan driver was consitently fast in practice this morning and has most importantly out qualified main championship rivals Max Wissel (FC Basel) and Ben Hanley (Olympiacos) for race one.

Buurman made it through a string of nail biting knock out rounds and faced team mate Alvaro Parente (FC Porto) in the first quarter final. Yelmer had a bit of a moment in the first sector but was pushing hard and took the win by over 6 tenths. The AC Milan driver had shown good pace all day, but he was narrowly out qualified by the Beijing driver, John Martin in the semi finals.

"We have had alot of bad luck in the last couple of rounds, but to be in the top 3 for this weekend is okay. I would have preffered to be starting from the front row of the grid or of course pole position, but I think I can work forward from here." Yelmer stated.

Championship hopes are still alive for Buurman this weekend; the Dutch driver currently sits in 5th position in the championship, only 44 points behind current leader Davide Rigon (Anderlecht). And with 106 points up for grab this weekend, Buurman will be pushing hard to grab as many as he can.

All Atech Reid drivers peformed well this afternoon, with 4 out of 5 drivers qualifying inside the top 10. Liverpool FC representative Frederic Vervisch will start from grid 6 followed closley by Alvaro Parente (FC Porto) 7th and Tristan Gommendy (Olympique Lyonnais) not far behind in 9th.

Esteban Guerrieri was unable to find his groove this afternoon; the Argentinian driver has not driven a Superleague Formula car since October, 2009, but has been very competitive in the World Series by Renault championship this year. He will start from grid 14 tomorrow and will be looking to make up as many positions as he can.

"We will start the first race from grid 14 tomorrow which is a little bit disapointing. But I will stay optimisitc that the team will find the pace that the PSV Eindhoven car has." An optimistic Guerrieri said.

-source: atech reid