Ayari breaks Guia speed barrier
Frenchman Soheil Ayari emerged from an accident-littered final qualifying session for tomorrow's 44th Macau Formula Grand Prix to earn pole position and a very special place in the already rich history of one of the premier street races in the world.
Ayari flew around the 6.2-kilometre Guia Circuit in a stunning time of two minutes, 15.892 seconds, becoming the first driver to average more than 100 mph in the old speed scale around the streets of this Portuguese enclave.
The 27-year-old's breathtaking performance came in the midst of a 45-minute qualifying session which had to be stopped four times as crashed cars blocked the racing line.
Second on the grid is the amiable Italian Max Angelelli who underscored the old maxim that there is no substitute for experience.
Making his eighth appearance in the race, Angelelli clocked a time of 2:16.434 behind the wheel of his Team BSR Spiess-Opel. Only a heartbeat away in third place is the TOM's Toyota of pacesetter from the first qualifying session on Thursday, Tom Coronel. The Dutchman stopped the clock at 2:16.493.
Rounding out the second row of the grid is Briton Ralph Firman at the wheel of the San Miguel-Paul Stewart Racing Mugen Honda.
Portuguese hero Andre Couto, who qualified within striking distance of the front-runners in fifth place, will have an anxious 24 hours as mechanics set about rebuilding the 20-year-old's Prema Powerteam Spiess Opel.
He crashed spectacularly in the final seconds of the session with his car catching fire as it cannoned off the Armco at high speed.
The Guia is as demanding a circuit as any in the world as proven by the fact that the top six drivers have all raced here before and are lured back by the challenge.
Debutant Peter Dumbreck from Britain, second in this year's British F3 championship behind Johnny Kane, steered his GM Motorsport Spiess Opel into seventh place with a time of 2:17.857.
While there were a number of outstanding individual performances during yesterday's final qualifying session, Ayari's stands tallest.
Campaigning in European Formula 3000 this year, Ayari had three practice sessions in his Equipe de France Spiess Opel before facing the daunting, narrow streets of Macau.
'It was a very special lap. With all the red flags, I didn't think I would be able to make a progressive lap.
'I waited for the other drivers to go out before really pushing for that one lap . . . the tyres were very good but you need to slide a little to be quick. I'm very happy.' Angelelli, like Ayari, has been out of F3 this season and wasn't even expected to drive here.
He has been racing in the World GT Championship this season and is only driving because Team BSR drafted him in when regular driver and German F3 champion this year, Nick Heidfeld, failed to recover from a bout of food poisoning contracted in Spain a week earlier.
The 20-year-old German watched the Italian veteran from his hospital window here which overlooks the track.
The Team BMW Motorsport 318is entries of Briton Steve Soper and German Jo Winkelhock dominate the front row of the grid for tomorrow afternoon's Guia Touring Car Race.
To the surprise of almost everybody, including himself, Soper, 43, seized pole position with a time of 2:29.897.
Soper has been driving in the World GT Championship and revealed he had been in a BMW only twice this year.
'I had two practice starts [before coming to Macau] and they were both disasters,' said Soper.
By contrast Winkelhock has been driving the BMW all season in the German Championship and was expected to have the edge.
