SJM GUIA

Friday, November 14
Final qualifying
Weather: Dry and clear

COUTO TAKES POLE FOR SJM GUIA RACE

Local hero Andre Couto put himself on course to add victory in the SJM Guia race to his triumph in the 2000 Macau Grand Prix when he grabbed pole position in final qualifying on Friday. The Alfa Romeo driver moved to the top of the timesheets near the end of the 45-minute session and edged out the BMW of Duncan Huisman and the Honda of Simon Harrison.

Couto was delighted with his performance and confident about his chances in Sunday's double-header. He said: "The team is good and things have gone well throughout the weekend. It is a good way to start. Before qualifying I made some changes to the car and it performed better in the uphill section. But I was expecting BMW to get close because they are always quick around here."

Dutchman Huisman was pleased with his front row qualifying performance, especially after his opening day of practice had been blighted by a gearbox problem and set-up difficulties with his car. He said: "I am very happy. We had some problems yesterday but we managed to fix them before qualifying and the car was brilliant. I used old tyres at the start of qualifying and, after I switched to new tyres, the car felt perfect. I also got a good tow from my team-mate Jorg Muller which really helped."

Briton Simon Harrison, who had been on provisional pole position on Thursday, had hoped to maintain his edge throughout the session but had no complaints about his eventual third place. He said: "I am delighted. I was surprised when I got the provisional pole position and I had hoped to keep it - but I think we are in a good shape for the race. The Honda is really consistent over a race distance, the Yokohama tyres and the engine are really good so we should be fine."

Briton Andy Priaulx, who has been adapting to a new team and new car this weekend, was confident about his own prospects for the race after securing fourth. He said: "We had no time to test before this weekend, so I am quite happy with qualifying. I can still win this race from fourth place on the grid."

The qualifying session was red-flagged once when Chan Heung Tak crashed and blocked the track.

Issued on behalf of the Macau Grand Prix Committee by PR Plus Limited