Maxime Martin proved to be a home hero for Romeo Ferraris with his second pole position in as many races with a 1m 19.692s lap to beat CUPRA EKS driver Tom Blomqvist to today’s fastest Pool FURIOUS time in searing heat at Vallelunga for the fifth round of the FIA ETCR eTouring Car World Cup.
Whilst Matin could wow with his pace, team-mate Giovanni Venturini put in a display of a different kind as he tipped his Giulia ETCR into a high speed spin, from which he recovered with only damage to his tyres and pride. He wasn’t the only one having a wild time of it as Mattias Ekström went full rallycross spec for an offroad interlude in Q2, meaning it was his Q1 time that counted, placing him third.
Hyundai Motorsport N’s Nicky Catsburg was fourth fastest, ahead of frustrated team-mate Jean-Karl Vernay with Venturini’s Q2 banker leaving him last in the session.
Race IT Pool FURIOUS Qualifying Times
Pool FURIOUS Quarter Final Grids
Maxime Martin Romeo Ferraris
Very good qualifying for sure. Good to be back to back on pole position, and here in Italy for the team is awesome. I think we have a good race car so we can really go for it.
Tom Blomqvist CUPRA EKS
Yeah, it was good. Qualifying was tight as expected after the first group this morning. I’m a little bit gutted I didn’t quite get the pole as I was very close on my second attempt. But Maxime is flying in the Romeo Ferraris. So, yeah, it’s gonna be exciting this afternoon and hopefully, myself and Mattias can do smart race and, you know, get our cars placed well for the semi finals.
Mattias Ekström CUPRA EKS
So qualifying started off okay, first one I was third. For the second one went full attack unfortunately put the one wheel on the grass at turn one and then went grass cutting so only one attempt but we are still third in qualy so we’ll to try and improve…
Nicky Catsburg Hyundai Motorsport N
Honestly after the first outing, I was disappointed. I did not really get why I was so slow, so we made some set-up changes and I made a better lap in Q2. I feel like the car was good enough to be in the top three and I am a little bit disappointed again. Obviously I am happy I wasn’t a few tenths off my team-mates this time so it wasn’t so bad, but I want to be in that first Quarter Final for once! We keep trying.
Jean-Karl Vernay Hyundai Motorsport N
I felt that I drove better in my second lap but I was slow compared to the others, so there’s not much to say. Hopefully with a good Quarter Final we can move into Semi Final 1 and score as many points as possible this weekend.
Giovanni Venturini Romeo Ferraris
Well in Q1 we did some show in corner one and I enjoyed it a lot but then in q2 I just finished a lap to set a time. We see what’s happens during the race.
