Brazilian Stock Cars: Max Wilson takes pole position

A thrilling qualifying session took place on the streets of Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, this Saturday. For the second round of the Brazilian Stock Car Championship, the rain came five minutes before the start of the session, causing a series of red flags and the order coming from the race director for everyone to use the Pirelli wet tyres.

However, the session had a happy conclusion, at least for Eurofarma-RC’s Max Wilson, who took his third Stock Car pole position. Five-time champion, Red Bull Racing’s driver Cacá Bueno starts second, with Ricardo Maurício and Allam Khodair on row two. Moreover, for a street circuit where overtaking is even more difficult, it means an auspicious start for the 2010 champion. "Starting from pole is good in any circuit, but on the streets we may have an advantage", says Wilson.

For tomorrow the main target is to fight for the win.

Max Wilson

Five minutes of rain were enough to wet the track. But as the drivers hit the circuit by groups of four (following the order of Goiânia’s race result), the second red flag came when Cesar Ramos hit the wall entering turn 5. Later on, the track started to dry out, and even with wet tyres, the times were improving. Each driver had two flying laps.

When Rubens Barrichello set 1min11s922 in the 2.298 km circuit and the following group could not match his time, Max Wilson came flying past the walls - and even touching them - to take pole with 1min11s198. The only thing he had to do then was to wait for his teammate Ricardo Maurício, alongside Marcos Gomes and Allam Khodair, finish their laps - and not match his laptime - to celebrate his career third pole position.

"Everything went fine. The track was relatively dry, and I was concerned with the final group because the surface was improving. I tried not to stress the tyres in my warm-up lap, because in the dry they were overheating a little bit. Anyway, I am happy for myself and for the team - as well for my teammate and friend Ricardo. For tomorrow the main target is to fight for the win", said Max Wilson.

There will be two heats this Sunday: the first one starts at 11 o’clock (Brazilian time) for 40 laps. Then, race 2 starts 12:30 pm with a 10-place reverse grid for 22 laps.

Starting Grid

1. 65 - Max Wilson - Eurofarma RC - 1min11s198
2. 0 - Cacá Bueno - Red Bull Racing - 1min11s379
3. 90 - Ricardo Mauricio - Eurofarma RC - 1min11s565
4. 18 - Allam Khodair - Full Time Sports - 1min11s735
5. 21 - Thiago Camilo - Ipiranga-RCM - 1min11s761
6. 80 - Marcos Gomes - Voxx Racing Team - 1min11s884
7. 111 - Rubens Barrichello - Full Time Sports - 1min11s922
8. 4 - Julio Campos - Prati-donaduzzi - 1min12s096
9. 28 - Galid Osman - Ipiranga-RCM - 1min12s236
10. 77 - Valdeno Brito - Shell Racing - 1min12s288
11. 2 - Raphael Matos - Schin Racing Team - 1min12s350
12. 88 - Felipe Fraga - Voxx Racing Team - 1min12s391
13. 73 - Sergio Jimenez - C2 Team - 1min12s418
14. 12 - Lucas Foresti - AMG Motorsport - 1min12s441
15. 29 - Daniel Serra - Red Bull Racing - 1min13s101
16. 46 - Vitor Genz - Boettger Competições - 1min13s194
17. 83 - Gabriel Casagrande - C2 Team - 1min13s251
18. 14 - Luciano Burti - RZ Motorsport - 1min13s771
19. 10 - Ricardo Zonta - Shell Racing - 1min14s595
20. 110 - Felipe Lapenna - Schin Racing Team - 1min15s389
21. 3 - Bia Figueiredo - União Química Racing - 1min15s584
22. 72 - Fabio Fogaça - Hot Car Competições - 1min15s615
23. 26 - Raphael Abbate - Hot Car Competições - 1min16s564
24. 1 - Antonio Pizzonia - Prati-donaduzzi - 1min16s672
25. 70 - Diego Nunes - Vogel Motorsport -1min16s792
26. 8 - Rafael Suzuki - RZ Motorsport - 1min17s522
27. 25 - Tuka Rocha - União Química Racing - 1min17s966
28. 74 - Popó Bueno - Cavaleiro Racing Sports - 1min20s159
29. 51 - Átila Abreu - AMG Motorsport - 1min28s760
30. 5 - Denis Navarro - Vogel Motorsport - no time
31. 11 - Cesar Ramos - Cavaleiro Racing Sports - no time

*Unofficial results

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