Yann Ehrlacher set pole position for the first of the pair of joint races of the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour and TCR South America at El Pinar’s Autódromo Victor Borrat Fabini. This was the second time the French driver topped the Qualifying after Marrakech; Mikel Azcona and Norbert Michelisz qualified second and third with gaps of 0.38 and 0.41 seconds respectively. On his last lap in Q2, Ma Qing Hua grasped the tenth position and the pole for the reversed-grid Race 2, while Pedro Cardoso was the fastest of the TCR South America competitors, ranking ninth overall.
The sun had broken after a rainy morning and the track was quickly drying when Q1 began. Lap times were continuously improved until the session was red-flagged after eight minutes, when Enrique Maglione’s Honda stopped at T3. Afterwards, Ma was the first one to complete a lap under 1:21, jumping on top of the timesheet (1:20.564) before Thiago Vivacqua crashed his Toyota into the barriers of T8 causing a second red flag. The session resumed with only a couple minutes to go with Azcona and Michelisz improving to second and third.
The drivers who advanced to Q2 were Ma, Azcona, Michelisz, Néstor Girolami, Ehrlacher, Thed Björk, Santiago Urrutia, Esteban Guerrieri, Juan Ángel Rosso, Pedro Cardoso, John Filippi and Matías Rossi, with Marco Butti the first of those who did not make the cut.
Ehrlacher posted immediately a provisional fastest lap of 1:20.409, two tenths faster than Michelisz’s 1:20.641; on his second attempt, Ehrlacher improved to 1:20.227 that was good enough for the pole, while Azcona moved into second. During the dying moments, Ma managed to post the tenth fastest lap, demoting Rosso to 11th.
After the session, Ma was handed a five-position grid penalty for Race 1, for impending Girolami and Azcona in Q2.
Ehrlacher: “Feelings are really good. They are much better than what they were at the end of Q1. We were completely lost there. We changed a little bit the car between Q1 and Q2 and I made a big reset in my mind to try and get it. We were just flat out and full push to get that lap and we got it when it counts.”
Pedro Cardoso: “I’m really happy! We have been competitive the whole season fighting for poles and wins throughout the whole championship that is why we are P3 right now. The car was extremely good. We weren’t very comfortable in practise but when it mattered the car felt great and I drove a pretty good qualifying.”
El Pinar - Qualifying
1:20.227 – Yann Ehrlacher (Lynk & Co Cyan Racing, Lynk & Co 03 FL)
1:20.606 – Mikel Azcona (BRC Squadra Corse, Hyundai Elantra N)
1:20.641 – Norbert Michelisz (BRC Squadra Corse, Hyundai Elantra N)
Championship points – TCR World Tour
- N. Michelisz, 204 pts; 2. E. Guerrieri 181; 3. Y. Ehrlacher, 171
Championship points – TCR South America
- J.Á. Rosso, 183 pts; 2. R. Reis, 179; 3. P. Cardoso 173
Further information and images @ www.fiatcrworldtour.com
Schedule
Sunday – Race 1: 10:10 (15:10 CEST) live streaming
Sunday – Race 2: 15:25 (20:25 CEST) live streaming
Picture: TCR South America/Hernán Capa
