Macau: Qualifying quotes

Andy PRIAULX, BMW Team UK fastest
"It's fantastic. The car has been great form the very first drive yesterday. In qualifying I had a good rhythm and new tyres so I pushed for a fast time. It really paid off because it was only the guys who were confident enough to push straight away who managed to post quick times before all the accidents occurred. My lap was nearly perfect, I went for it and I had a great slipstream so I'm not sure if could have been any better. However, I was not confident enough to get out of my car and finish the session early. My position is probably now a little better than the other title contenders (Dirk Müller and Giovanardi) and I hope to finish Race 1 in the top two positions to grab big points. We must remember the reverse grid however and this is where things get serious. Traffic, the safety car, blind corners, these and many more things mean that things won't be easy for me out there. I am very happy the WTCC has come to Macau. This type of circuit can make or break a driver so I think it's important to drive here in order to increase your skill. The circuit is controversial but it is great for the viewers and spectators and so far it has been good to me."

André COUTO, Alfa Romeo Racing Team 2nd fastest
"At the beginning of this event things were not easy because I had no experience in the Alfa Romeo 156. I was struggling to be quick and perhaps I was being too conservative and conscious of safety. In qualifying however I pushed hard, perhaps too hard because I hit the wall. I have to say it is an honour to be driving for Alfa Romeo, especially considering I am in the front row in my home event of Macau."

Augusto FARFUS, Alfa Romeo Racing Team 3rd fastest
"There were so many accidents my last chance for an even faster lap was on the very last one. But it was not to be because Paul Poon braked in front of me and although I tried, I couldn't avoid him. It is my first time here and I am still learning all the corners. I am having great fun. It's a good track, very fast, very tight and unforgiving if you make a mistake. I think I will wait until Sunday evening to say whether I like it though! In terms of the championship, my team- mate Fabrizio (Giovanardi) will need luck, considering it is so hard to overtake. Of course I will be supporting Alfa Romeo and I want us to win but all I know is I will do my best and I have to race for myself."

Dirk MÜLLER, BMW Team Deutschland 6th fastest
"We knew before we went out that it was going to be a gamble and for me it didn't pay off. However, I know I could have gone much faster if I had not been in traffic. I think there was come careless driving by others and that cost me some time on a couple of laps. After that it was chaos. On the last lap I was going really well on new tyres but again the red flags came out so I had a lot of potential I couldn't show. We are still trying to work on the car and sixth place is almost as good as second at Macau. I expect there to be a lot of yellow flags so the field will bunch together. For the championship, I think it is looking quite good."

Fabrizio GIOVANARDI, Alfa Romeo Racing Team 9th fastest
"Macau is Macau and today we have seen that everyhing could happen here! Therefore I feel in the same position as Dirk (Müller); nothing is lost yet. However I have to say that Andy (Priaulx) managed to be very fast and moved a big step towards the title. Unless he's hit by bad luck on Sunday, is difficult to imagine him losing the championship. I could have been faster, but I have to blame my two incidents in practice that I wasn't. The team worked very well to repair my car, but they had to do it in a hurry and the final result was a car a bit out of balance. They will change something tomorrow and hopefully we will be more competitive on Sunday."

-fia-