Portimao: Series Friday report

BMW LOOKING STRONG IN PORTUGAL

BMW Team RBM's Andy Priaulx (1:56.810) finished quickest in Portimão testing as the FIA WTCC prepares for its first ever event at the Autodromo Internacional de Algarve this weekend.

The WTCC drivers had their first taste of the 4.6km circuit in beaming sunshine this afternoon with Rob Huff's last lap of 1:56.890 splitting the BMW's at the top, demoting Augusto Farfus (1:56.890) to third.

Local hero Tiago Monteiro (1:57.149) finished fourth in the top SEAT Leon TDI for SR-Sport. Series newcomer Colin Turkington (1:57.189) made an impressive debut to finish fifth overall and top of the Independents in his eBay Motors BMW 320si.

Chevrolet's Yvan Muller (1:57.191) and Alain Menu (1:57.376) were sixth and seventh ahead of SR-Sport teammates Jordi Gene (1:57.797) and Gabriele Tarquini (1:57821). Hong Kong's Darryl O'Young (1:58.172) rounded out the top ten putting in some strong lap times once again to finish as top Rookie and second in the Independents. His bamboo-engineering teammate Harry Vaulkhard (1:58.548) was 12th overall finishing third fastest Independent and second quickest Rookie. Scuderia Proteam Motorsport's Stefano D'Aste only completed five laps before spinning at T7 and having to sit out the remainder of the session.

YOKOHAMA CELEBRATES 100th WTCC RACE

The 10th WTCC round in Portimão this weekend will mark Yokohama's 100th race as the championship's Official Tyre Supplier since the Japanese company was appointed by the FIA in 2006. To celebrate the event, the WTCC cars sport a 100th race logo on windscreen stripes and race number plates.

Mr Shigeo Komatsu, General Manager Tire Global Product Planning Division of Yokohama, commented: "We wish to express our sincere thanks to all the parties involved in the World Touring Car Championship, such as FIA, KSO, Eurosport, manufacturers and teams for their support. It is our great honour to celebrate our 100th WTCC race in Portimão and we undertake to keep on supplying the WTCC with high quality tyres."

Marcello Lotti, General Manager of KSO, added: "Yokohama's participation in 100 WTCC races shows the level of commitment of this valuable partner and the strong belief that they have in the continuous development of the WTCC. We are delighted to work with Yokohama in a successful partnership for both the commercial and technical aspects and we are also grateful to them because their involvement has led to a lot of interest, especially in Japan."

37,956 tyres (dry and wet) have been supplied by Yokohama to WTCC teams since 2006.

COUNTDOWN: - 2 DAYS to the 2010 FIA WTCC Race of Portugal - 3rd / 4th July, in Portimão

-source: wtcc