Manuel Fernandes said “We never dreamed” about the pole position he has earned for the second race of the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour at Paul Ricard.
The Portuguese was 10th fastest in Q2 at the French circuit in his Vannin Motorsport Audi RS 3 LMS. And, with the top 10 reversed for Race 2, that means he will be starting from the front.
Fernandes started his 2026 TCR World Tour adventure last time out at Valencia, with the Spanish event and Paul Ricard all part of his preparations for the big one: on home ground at Vila Real.
“We are happy because in Valencia we had some problems with the car,” he said. “Now we’ve fixed them, and for me and the team and for Audi, it’s amazing this result. We never dreamed about it. We did a great job.”
With the top 12 in Q1 progressing to Q2, key to the achievement of Fernandes was dislodging Damiano Reduzzi from that all-important 12th spot.
“My brother is my engineer, and he said, ‘You need to push a little bit because we are close. Push because we need the Q2.’ And in Q2 I pushed a little bit more and we did a great job. For me this race is a test for Vila Real. I needed a P1! I’m very happy.
I live in Vila Real so it’s very special for me because the crowd is amazing. I have a lot of friends, family, and we have 200,000 people around the circuit all pushing. It’s like two football stadiums! It’s a dream to race there in the TCR World Tour.
For now, it’s my first time in pole position. Just chill, just enjoy the race and do my best.”
Picture: WSC/Fastclick-AvensImages
