Nicki Thiim, pole sitter: “Me and my team-mate are here to get the performance and we have really showed it over the weekend up to now. We changed a lot on the car and it seems to be going in the right direction. I am especially happy for the team because you feel they needed to get some more confidence. This is the first time I have driven the TCR Audi TT. It is completely different from the GT cars I am used to, as it is eight years since I have driven a front-wheel drive car so it is a bit of a difference, but it is still a car with four wheels and a steering wheel. The track is really nice and I am competing against some of the best in the touring car business, so I am just looking forward to the races tomorrow.”
Jordi Gené, qualified 2nd: “In Valencia I think we had a similar pace to here, as I was really close to Pepe in practice, but in the wrong moment I made a mistake. I was at home, I was very hot, I wanted to perform extremely well and I overdrove, so it was my fault there. I needed a good result and Portimão has brought me this again. I am happy for my team because they have been working very hard and did a fantastic job because the car is perfect. I am happy for Lukoil, myself and my fans because we have showed we should be fighting constantly up there. At the moment my goal is to have a good result, get some points and bring myself up a little bit in the championship.”
Pepe Oriola, qualified 3rd: “I am happy to be third, get some points in qualifying and be in a good position for tomorrow’s race, especially because after Valencia I have another 30 kilos over the other drivers. I am quite happy because my main competitors in the championship are without points in qualifying. I will try to get as many points as I can in race one as they are starting behind me, and in the second race try to fight them to get some more points. We know our car is not going to be as good as in Valencia so we need a points gap. I don’t think I could do the same time as Nicki even with the 60 kilos he has less than me, especially because on this straight the Audi is a little bit lower so they have less wind resistance.”
