With an impressive lap of 1:44.306 on his first run in Q2, Aurélien Comte claimed his and SP Compétition’s maiden pole position in the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour. Thed Björk and Norbert Michelisz qualifying second and third, with Australian returnee Will Brown in fourth. The championship leader Yann Ehrlacher was sixth fastest and his advantage over Björk shrunk from 42 to 34 points.
Q1 – Michel Azcona and Michelisz were quick from the very start, clocking times of 1:44.538 and 1:44.862 on their first lap out. Halfway through the session, Brown (1:44.652), Comte (1:44.688), Björk (1:44.789) and Lo Sze Ho (1:44.812) advanced to second, third, fourth and fifth. Then Michelisz (1:44.685) improved further to take P3, with Ma Qing Hua in P5 (1:44.729).
With six minutes to go, Björk (1:44.255), Comte (1:44.446) and Ehrlacher (1:44.512) jumped on top of the timesheet.
Just before the chequered flag, Esteban Guerrieri made it to P9, kicking Santiago Urrutia off the top ten who were covered by only seven tenths.
Björk, Comte, Ehrlacher, Azcona, Brown, Michelisz, Ma, Lo, Guerrieri and Néstor Girolami advanced to Q2, with Urrutia and Ignacio Montenegro in 11th and 12th.
Diego Moran was fastest of the TCR Asia drivers in 14th position overall, ahead of Victor Chan Chun Leung before stopping with a broken front suspension just before the end.
Q2 – After the first timed runs, Comte was fastest with a lap of 1:44.306 followed by Björk (1:44.602), Michelisz (1:44.645) and Ma (1:44.695).
The only ones who managed to improve afterwards were Brown (1:44.646) who qualified fourth behind Michelisz, and Björk (1:44.574) who remained second.
Comte said: “I am so happy for that lap. This is my first time here, the track is very tricky, but the car feels so good. I am so grateful for my team, they work so hard. Who knows what will happen in the race but for now, I am so happy!”
The first race will start at 15:00 (08:00 CET) over 30 minutes plus one lap.
Qualifying
1:44.306 Aurélien Comte (SP Compétition, CUPRA Leon VZ)
1:44.574 Thed Björk (Lynk & Co Cyan Racing, Lynk & Co 03 FL)
1:44.645 Norbert Michelisz (BRC Hyundai Squadra Corse, Hyundai Elantra N)
Championship points – TCR World Tour
- Y. Ehrlacher, 376 pts; 2. T. Björk, 342; 3. E. Guerrieri, 329
Championship points – TCR Asia
- Chang C.S., 299 pts; 2. D. Moran, 283; 3. B. Santoso, 244.
Picture: WSC/Jun Qian Motorsport
