Macau GP: BMW qualifying 2 report

Grid positions six and eight for BMW Team RBM in Macau.

Macau, 20th November 2010. The starting grid for the 21st round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship in Macau (CN) has now been determined. In the second qualifying phase, which had to be postponed to Saturday morning due to long delays on Friday, BMW Team RBM's Augusto Farfus (BR) posted a lap time of 2:32.222 minutes, earning him sixth place and a third-row grid position for the penultimate race of the season. His team-mate, Andy Priaulx (GB), finished eighth after setting a 2:32.478-minute lap. Like last year, Chevrolet's Robert Huff (GB) secured pole position at the 6.177-kilometre circuit.

The first race begins on Sunday at 11:50hrs local time (3:50hrs GMT). Race two gets underway at 13:10hrs (5:10hrs GMT).

Bart Mampaey (Team Principal):
"I think we got the maximum out of qualifying under these circumstances. We managed to fix Andy's car following the heavy impact he had yesterday. There were also some technical issues on Augusto's car, which we were also able to solve. Both our drivers are very close to each other in terms of lap times. Augusto put in a quick lap right in the opening stage of the session. This is essential here, as red flags can come out any time, as we saw on Friday. Andy made an excellent comeback. After an accident like he had yesterday, it's not easy to retain your usual confidence. The team worked extremely hard, and now we are looking forward to Sunday's races that conclude the 2010 season."

Augusto Farfus (Car Number 10):
Qualifying 1: 9th, 2:33.610 min -- Qualifying 2: 6th, 2:32.222 min -- Weight: 1,198 kg
"There wasn't much more possible in this rather unusual qualifying, which stretched over two days. We have had a difficult weekend so far, but the team managed to fight back into the action. From sixth on the grid anything should be possible on Sunday. However, I definitely won't make any predictions about the outcome of the two races. That's just not possible here in Macau."

Andy Priaulx (Car Number 11):
Qualifying 1: 8th, 2:33.331 min -- Qualifying 2: 8th, 2:32.478 min -- Weight: 1,198 kg
"Everything was okay, but the session wasn't brilliant. I am not sure quite why, but I didn't feel really connected. I don't think it is the car, but after such a big impact yesterday you never know. I felt within myself not quite hooked up and that is most likely why I am two tenths slower than Augusto. It is disappointing as it is nice to be a bit quicker, but I think that is about where we expected our cars to be."

-source: bmw