Mikel Azcona grabbed pole position for the BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse team at Paul Ricard with a scintillating lap right at the end of the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour qualifying; it’s the second pole for the Spaniard after that in the season opener at Misano.
Azcona and his Hyundai Elantra N EV appeared to have a slight edge in the South of France: quickest in the opening runs, before smashing in a 1:30.444 as the chequered flag flew.
Yann Ehrlacher, the Geely Cyan Racing star celebrating his 30th birthday today, and Azcona’s teammate Norbert Michelisz had both eclipsed Azcona’s earlier effort on their final runs, posting laps of 1:30.543 and 1:30.768 respectively, but in the end they had to settle for second and third. A good effort for Michelisz, who lost the final minutes of Q1 when a steering rack needed replacing.
Two of Ehrlacher’s fellow Geely Preface racers were fourth and fifth, with Thed Björk heading Santiago Urrutia. They were followed by the ALM Motorsport Honda Civic FL5 of Jenson Brickley.
Aurélien Comte, Teddy Clairet, Ma Qing Hua and Manuel Fernandes completed the top 10. However, ten-place grid penalties for Urrutia and Ma, both of whom have accumulated three reprimands this season, mean they will have to start race one from the back of the grid.
Two more drivers qualified for the Q2 shootout, but Julien Briché stopped on the course late in Q1, while Victor Weyrich did not make it out on track either due to an engine issue.
The first race is scheduled to take place on Sunday at 12:40 CEST.
Qualifying
1:30.444 – Mikel Azcona (BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse, Hyundai Elantra N EV)
1:30.543 – Yann Ehrlacher (Geely Cyan Racing, Geely Preface)
1:30.768 – Norbert Michelisz (BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse, Hyundai Elantra N EV)
Championship points
- S. Urrutia, 144 pts.; 2. T. Björk, 126; 3. M. Azcona, 126
Picture: WSC/Fastclick-AvensImages
