Thed Björk (Pole position): “It was an amazing qualifying. We were on the limit and I did what I needed to do to try and be in the championship fight. But it was a really difficult session with Yann (Ehrlacher). Also we were not even in it at the beginning… as at a certain moment we were all out of Q2. I have never fought so hard with Mikel (Azcona) before. It was just so tight and obviously Yann helped me. He gave me the tow and I really appreciate him giving me that advantage. Yann was on the limit too, nearly touching the walls. It was fantastic to be working together. One of my main goals was pole position here in Macau!”
Mikel Azcona (2nd): “Obviously I am happy because I am carrying 30 kilos and to be fighting for the pole is good. I put the maximum in fighting for the best result. I am super happy but at the same time have some mixed feelings because I missed pole by a only few thousands of a seconds… However, I came into the final round to give everything and to stay in contention for the title. Yes I am happy but I want to go for more in tomorrow´s race!”
Yann Ehrlacher ( 3rd): “First of all, well done to Mikel and Thed… especially Thed. He did a very good job. It´s quite challenging when you play for the championship in a session like this. There were many red flags and you had to stay focus. I did everything I could do to help Thed. From my side with 30 kilos here in Macau we knew it was going to be difficult. But at the end of the day we are P1 and P3 mixed with the 2 Hyundai cars so it will be a tough fight on the track tomorrow. We have shown just how competitive it is in this championship so we can be quite proud.”
Martin Cao Hong Wei (1st in TCR China): “It was really tricky conditions for Q1. Luckily we got the experience from Zhuzhou when we ran on slicks in wet conditions. We just tried to survive as we knew the track was were going to improve for Q2, and then we could aim for the reversed grid. I’m now on the front row of a world championship, which is quite a mark for myself. At the moment I’m also five points in the lead from Jason (Zhang Zhi Qiang), and it’s either him or myself, so let’s see how it goes. Starting on the front row on Sunday’s race has a different meaning. It’s the benchmark for my career as I’ve never started a race of a world championship on the front row, but I have my own championship to consider and stay on the track to survive.”
Zhang Zhen Dong (1st in TCR Asia): “Unfortunately, our position in the pit lane was very far back so I had no chance to get a clean lap. My first lap I was third overall, but after the red flag on the out lap I still got a lot of traffic. I’m really glad to be on first position in TCR Asia, and next time I hope we can have an opportunity to follow our practice performance. Many years ago I was teammate with Rob Huff, we raced in China and, as he will start behind me, maybe I’ll make a deal with him as tomorrow I don’t want a crash, I just need to finish the race and score points.”
Picture: WSC/Jun Qian Motorsport
