NEWS

Saturday, 17 July, ARENDAL (Norway): Welmax’s Jorn Tandberg and Kolbjorn Selmer will start this afternoon’s race 1 of the BMW Norwegian Grand Prix in pole position after producing a sensational qualifying performance in this morning’s Edox Pole Position.

In a close and exciting session that went down to the wire, the all-Norwegian pairing threw down the gauntlet on their first flying lap, posting their best time of 3mins18.40secs to complete the 5.61Nm lap at an average speed of 188.52kmh, and then watched as their main rivals, Fazza 3 and Spirit of Dubai, tried to overhaul them.

For Fazza 3’s Arif Al Zafeen and Nadir Bin Hendi it was the end of their run of five straight Pole Position wins. The defending Edox Pole Position Champions had to find four seconds after their first lap, and despite pitting to make a propeller change, were unable to snatch the pole on their final run, missing out by less than two-seconds.

Spirit of Dubai’s Giovanni Carpitella and Giorgio Manuzzi once again put together a string of impressive laps, producing another strong performance to take third place and a podium finish in only their second competitive outing together, and for the second time in two outings, finishing ahead of Abdullah Al Mehairbi and Mohammed Al Marri in Fazza 1.

Christian Zaborowski and Paul Gaiser continued to bring their lap times down and produced a solid showing in Relekta to finish fifth fastest ahead of Guido Cappellini and Nicola Giorgi in Primatist.

Tandberg and Selmer will now be aiming to convert their first pole position win together into their first race win together, and wheelman Selmer was understandably delighted to take his first Edox Pole Position win, and in front of a partisan home crowd. "Fantastic. It’s my first time on the top step of the podium. I don’t mind that it’s not a race win - it feels just great - and there’s more to come." said Selmer, with team boss and throttleman Tandberg adding, "We drove a great lap, the conditions were very good and we were both in a very competitive mood. Now we have to convert this into a race win. But the course should suit us. The straights are long, we know we are quick, and we have to take advantage of this."
　
BMW NORWEGIAN GRAND PRIX, EDOX POLE POSITION – Results
1. Welmax - K Selmer (NOR) / J Tandberg (NOR) - 03.18,40
2. Fazza 3 - A Al Zafeen (UAE) / N Bin Hendi (UAE) - 03.20,71
3. Spirit of Dubai - G Manuzzi (SMR) / G Carpitella (ITA) - 03.23,25
4. Fazza 1 - A Al Mehairbi (UAE) / M Al Marri (UAE) - 03.28,04
5. Relekta - P Gaiser (BRA) / C Zaborowski (NOR) - 03.35,21
6. Primatist - G Cappellini (ITA) / N Giorgi (ITA) - 04.19,56

EDOX POLE POSITION CHAMPIONSHIP - after round 2 of 6
1=. Fazza 3 - 35pts 1=. Welmax - 35pts 3. Fazza 1 - 21pts 4. Spirit of Dubai - 12pts 5. Team Abu Dhabi - 9pts 6=. Welmax Alianza - 7pts 6=. Relekta - 7pts 8=. Foresti & Suardi - SCAM - 5pts 8=. Primatist - 5pts