30/05/2009: Abarth 500 European Trophy: pole position for 16-year-old Portuguese Arnaut at Valencia

On Saturday 30 May at the Spanish circuit of Valencia, Portuguese Bernardo Arnaut, 16, will start the first race of the Abarth 500 European Trophy from pole position. Having set the second fastest time, another young driver, Italian Alex Campani (18), will be beside him while Spaniard Lucas Guerrero and Morocco's Mehdi Bennani will occupy the second row of the grid.

The very young Portuguese driver set a lap time of 1min 56.031s at an average speed of 124.26kph. This outstanding achievement proves the nimbleness and the manoeuvrability of the Abarth 500 Assetto Corse, which coped remarkably well with the winding track of the Valencia circuit.

On her debut in circuit racing, 19-year-old Italian Erika Monforte was credited with the 11th time and was thus the best female driver, ahead of Spain's Maria de Villota, the daughter of former Formula 1 driver Emilio. De Villota did not make the most of her qualifying session due to an accident which occurred during free practice after she was fastest in the second session.

Race 1 gets underway on Saturday 30 May at 5:30pm, while race 2 is scheduled on Sunday 31 at 4:05pm.

Classification of qualifying:
1. Bernardo Arnaut (P), 1min 56.031s - average speed 124.26kph;
2. Alex Campani (I), 1min 56.081s;
3. Lucas Guerrero (E), 1min 56.122s;
4. Mehdi Bennani (MA), 1min 57.098s;
5. Jorge Rodrigues (P), 1min 57.217s;
6. Manuel Villa (I), 1min 57.217s;
7. Noel Jamal (E), 1min 57.404s;
8. Benoit Perret (F), 1min 58.067s;
9. Simone Monforte (I), 1min 58.288s;
10. Javier Macias (E), 1min 58.946s.