TCR Australia competitors outpaced those of the Kumho TCR World Tour, as an unexpected shower turned the Qualifying session at Eastern Creek into a lottery. Ben Bargwanna snatched a last gasp pole position at the wheel of his Peugeot 308 ousting the Audi RS 3 LMS of the provisional poleman Will Brown. Mikel Azcona salvaged the honour of the international contingent by qualifying third in his Hyundai Elantra and will share the second row of the grid for this evening’s Race 1 with the Hyundai i30 of TCR Australia points leader Bailey Sweeny.
Q1 – The rain began to fall just before the start of the session and Will Harris was the first driver to spin off, while Azcona posted a provisional fastest lap of 1:40.8794. As the rain intensified, those who had not posted a fast lap in the early stages tried in vain to make the cut for Q2. Eventually only four of the TCR World Tour competitors made it, while Néstor Girolami, Yann Ehrlacher, Thed Björk, Santiago Urrutia and Frédéric Vervisch remained off.
The ten drivers who advanced to Q2 were Azcona, Brown, Ma Qing Hua, Sweeny, Norbert Michelisz, Rob Huff, Zac Soutar, Josh Buchan, Jimmy Clairet and Bargwanna.
Q2 – The second part of the session started on a drying track, and so this time the last drivers to time a lap were the fastest. Bargwanna was the first one to go under the 1:40 mark with a provisional fastest lap of 1:39.579 that was bettered by Brown to 1:38.594 just before the end of the session. However, Bargwanna had a last attempt and posted a 1:37.8033 that gave him the pole position, while Azcona qualified in third position, best of the World Tour drivers.
“I’m speachless! I did not expect it! This is the best result I could ever imagine. I’m so excited! The team made the right call, and we went on slick on a track that was drying at the right moment. This is awesome!”Bargwanna said.
“It was very challenging as the conditions changed continuously and you had to switch from slicks to wets and back again. We went for the correct strategy, staying out on slicks to set the lap at the beginning of Q1. Then in Q2 we were on wets, but it was drying and so we went back to slicks for the last lap. It was a good result, because I see an opportunity to score good points in the first race,” said Azcona.
Race 1 is due to start later at 20:40 local time (10:40 CET), with live streaming on tcr-series.tv and YouTube.
Sydney – Qualifying
1. Ben Bargwanna (Garry Rogers Motorsport, Peugeot 308), 1:37.8033
2. Will Brown (Melbourme Performance Centre, Audi RS 3 LMS), 1:38.5954
3. Mikel Azcona (BRC Squadra Corse, Hyundai Elantra N), 1:38.8446
Championship points – TCR World Tour
1. N. Michelisz, 270 pts; 2. Y. Ehrlacher, 266; 3. M. Azcona, 251
Championship points – TCR Australia
1. B. Sweeny, 594 pts; 2. J. Buchan, 562; 3. A. Cameron, 551
Picture: TCR Australia/Daniel Kalisz
