Morocco: Chevrolet qualifying report

Two Cruzes In The Top Five Of Marrakech's Grid

Rob Huff Second-Fastest, Muller Fifth, While Menu Misses Q2 After Crashing

MARRAKECH, 1st May 2010 As feared by many, the qualifying session in Marrakech today was disrupted by many incidents (the session was red-flagged three times), turning the possibility of performing a fast lap into something closer to a lottery. In these conditions, Rob Huff managed to secure a spot in first row tomorrow, having set the second-fastest time in Q2. Yvan Muller will also be in a good position: his fifth time allows him to sit in third row.

The Cruzes proved to be very competitive with Rob and Yvan and the team can aim for some good result tomorrow. Unfortunately, one of today's many incidents involved Alain Menu, who crashed during Q1. He will have to start from the 13th position and his mechanics will have to repair again the car tonight.

* QUOTES

Rob Huff (2nd): "It was quite a wild qualifying session and I am happy to be on the first row. Given that our cars are much heavier this year, it is a very good result, which proves that we are competitive, and I am quite excited about the races tomorrow. It was a pity to lose Alain in Q1, that also obliged us to reorganize the slip-streaming strategy for Q2, but I was lucky with the timing in Q2, as I did my fastest lap shortly before a red flag".

Yvan Muller (5th): "The car was very good and it was worth first row. Unfortunately, my second fast run was aborted by Nykjaer's accident and in the last one, Rob and I were blocked by Barth, which costed us at least 3 tenths. The races tomorrow will be tough, we need to see the pace of our competitors in race conditions, and the key factor for everybody will be the endurance of brakes".

Alain Menu (13th): "I lost the car in one of the chicanes, as I went into the corner a little bit too fast and with some oversteering. I must say I hit the wall quite hard, I'm still a little shaken and the car is quite damaged. It is a pity because I was fastest in the second sector and could have made the pole, and I am sincerely sorry to impose the boys a second night of work to repair my car. But this is always the risk when you race and go for it."

David Grace: "On one hand, it was a pity what happened to Alain, on the other happy with Rob's and Yvan's results, although we could have achieved more without all the incidents. The positive thing is that we have worked a lot on the set-ups of the car and that the Cruze is behaving well on this track. I am confident we can aim at victory tomorrow".

Eric Nève: "We all are very sorry for Alain, but the entire team is behind him. The guys will do everything to give him a car in perfect conditions tomorrow morning and allow him to have a good chance in race 2. Rob did a very good lap and also Yvan was very fast. The races tomorrow will be long and tough, and I hope we will emerge with some heavy points for the championship."

-source: chevy