Despite Nicola Larini and birthday boy Tom Coronel topping the times for most of the qualifying, Jordi Gené snatched pole for SEAT Sport in the closing minutes.
A disappointed Larini looked as though it may have been his session, until Gené set fastest time at 1:40.808, the first driver to go below 1:41. Chevrolet driver Larini was only 0.173 behind, and Tom Coronel, who turned 36 today, was 0.258 further back.
Larini was supported by team mates Robert Huff and Alain Menu who qualified fourth and fifth respectively, increasing the pressure on SEAT.
Chevrolet and SEAT have set the pace all weekend so far showing a perfect balance in their performances, while the BMW drivers struggled again to find the grip and Augusto Farfus emerged as the fastest of them setting the sixth fastest lap, 0.7 seconds off the pole.
Two-thirds of the way through the session SEAT Sport's Tiago Monteiro's engine blew dramatically, putting an end to his qualifying hopes as he slipped down from fifth to tenth position. This incident caused a red flag and session was halted for ten minutes.
This gave Gabriele Tarquini time for his gearbox to be fixed ready for the restart, and he was then finally able to set a time immediately behind Rickard Rydell, who was classified seventh.
A disappointed Larini looked as though it may have been his session, until Gené set fastest time at 1:40.808, the first driver to go below 1:41. Chevrolet driver Larini was only 0.173 behind, and Tom Coronel, who turned 36 today, was 0.258 further back.
Larini was supported by team mates Robert Huff and Alain Menu who qualified fourth and fifth respectively, increasing the pressure on SEAT.
Chevrolet and SEAT have set the pace all weekend so far showing a perfect balance in their performances, while the BMW drivers struggled again to find the grip and Augusto Farfus emerged as the fastest of them setting the sixth fastest lap, 0.7 seconds off the pole.
Two-thirds of the way through the session SEAT Sport's Tiago Monteiro's engine blew dramatically, putting an end to his qualifying hopes as he slipped down from fifth to tenth position. This incident caused a red flag and session was halted for ten minutes.
This gave Gabriele Tarquini time for his gearbox to be fixed ready for the restart, and he was then finally able to set a time immediately behind Rickard Rydell, who was classified seventh.