Gabriele TARQUINI, Alfa Romeo – fastest
“The track seems to suit the car. We made a simulation at home which has worked well and the gear ratios and set-up was very good for me. I had to wait while the mechanics fixed a problem with oil coming from my gear box. This left me with 15 minutes on the track but it was enough. The first lap was very good, but not perfect because I made a mistake. However, the following lap was great so I was able to take pole. I was ready in the pits with new tyres in case I needed to go back out because I was conscious there was every chance that one of my team-mates would go faster than me. This didn’t happen so I have managed to save my second set of tyres for tomorrow.”



James THOMPSON, Alfa Romeo – 2nd fastest
“It’s been a fantastic result so far for the team, the car works very well here. The story of the championship seems to be that some manufacturers get on well at particular circuits while the others have to play catch-up all weekend. In this case our cars have worked exceptionally well straight away and it was just a fight between ourselves. I think Istanbul Park is a fantastic circuit and a great place to drive. It will be nicer when it has had a few more races because it is still slightly dirty off the race line. The long straights and good track width should provide some great racing tomorrow with a lot of overtaking potential. Most of the circuits are new to me this year and out of the all of them this has been my favourite one to learn.”

Augusto FARFUS, Alfa Romeo – 3rd fastest
“I had a few problems with my car this morning and so we tried different changes with the set-up. In the practices I was fighting just to get a good pace but in qualifying I was fighting for pole so what we changed worked. I tried my best and looking at the times it’s really close so I am happy. The most important thing is we have four cars at the front and I hope it is a good race for Alfa Romeo. BMW may not be starting at the front of the grid but in the race I think they will be strong towards the end. The final laps will be hard for us but I want to keep ahead for the entire race.”

Stéphane ORTELLI, Team Oreca – 5th fastest
“My qualifying position is one better than in Oschersleben but this track is more difficult because is longer, and the difference new tyres make is not as significant. If you look at my results from this morning I was not expecting to be behind all the Alfas but I can’t complain. I am very happy and positive. I’m sure tomorrow will be an exciting race because the track is wide enough for overtaking. I passed some Alfas in the Oschersleben races so I see no reason why this can’t happen again in Istanbul.”