As Chevrolet scored another World Touring Car Championship pole position at Zolder there were mixed feelings amongst the drivers. While polesitter Rob Huff and Alain Menu were delighted with their front row grid slots, reigning champion Yvan Muller was left disappointed after making errors on his final flying lap.
Huff said that he was surprised to achieve pole position as he felt that neither of his flying laps in Q2 were as good as they could have been. “I am very pleased with this pole, and also a bit surprised, as neither my two lap attempts weren't perfect,” he said. “In the first one, I was a little bit too cautious in the first sector, had a very good second sector and an even better third sector. In my second try, it was exactly the opposite: I started better than I finished. But, apparently, my first fast lap was good enough to ensure the pole.
With the WTCC experiencing scorching temperatures this weekend in Belgium, Huff added: “It was a tough qualifying, as it was very warm inside the cars and the minutes spent in the pit lane under the sun because of the red flag period made it even hotter.”
Menu was also surprised with his qualifying result. He too did not think his quickest lap was all that fast. “It's a little bit of a surprise to find myself on the first row, as my impression from behind the wheel was that I wasn't particularly fast,” said the Swiss driver. “I had a lot of over-steering and had to be cautious not to lose the rear of the car at every corner. In addition, I also had strange vibrations on the steering wheel. All that obliged me to take a rather square line in the chicanes, but it looks like it did not affect my lap times.”
Muller was left disappointed after over-driving on his final attempt in Q2 and making a couple of errors. “I am not very satisfied of my qualifying, as things didn't go as they should have,” said the Frenchman. “On my first attempt, I was off for a very good time, then I think the tires just went, and I locked a wheel while braking. On the second attempt, I maybe pushed a little bit too hard and lost again some tenths.”
Despite his drivers struggling to get the perfect lap together, Chevrolet Motorsport Europe boss Eric Neve was left delighted with the team's qualifying results. He said: “It was an excellent qualifying and I am sure that tomorrow, our 900 guests will appreciate the welcome presents: a blue sky and a blue front row.”
