19/06/2009: Abarth 500 European Trophy: Italian Manuel Villa in pole position at Brno

On Saturday 20 June, Italian Manuel Villa will start from pole position for the second round of the Abarth 500 European Trophy, which is held on the circuit of Brno in the Czech Republic.

The first row of the grid is all-Italian since Villa got ahead of his very young fellow countryman Simone Monforte (16) and Portuguese Jorge Rodrigues.

Having always been among the first three during the morning's free practice sessions, Villa posted a time of 2min 39.810s in qualifying, under the rain, at an average speed of 121.71kph. The pole sitter rose higher and higher: in the first two morning's sessions, still on a wet track, he was third and second fastest respectively. To complete his progression, Villa set the pole position, which looks very promising for the first of the two Abarth 500 European Trophy races that will take place tomorrow.

Among the drivers entered for this second meeting, there are also five representatives of the Czech Republic, a fact that bears witness to the large interest the Trophy arouses in this country too.

The 19-year-old Italian Erika Monforte, the only female driver entered in this second round, concluded qualifying with the eleventh time.

Race 1 starts on Saturday 20 June at 5:05pm, while Race 2 is scheduled for Sunday 21 at 5:05pm.

Qualifying classification:
1. Manuel Villa (I), 2min39.810 - average speed 121.71kph;
2. Simone Monforte (I), 2min40.104s;
3. Jorge Rodrigues (P), 2min40.568s;
4. Benoît Perret (F), 2min40.843s;
5. Enrico Fulgenzi (I), 2min41.210s;
6. Petr Valek (CZ), 2min41.225s;
7. Michael Vorba (CZ), 2min42.000s;
8. Matons Kubu (CZ), 2min43.954s;
9. Daniele Vernuccio (I), 2min45.602s;
10. Petr Vencalek (CZ), 2min46.879.