Néstor Girolami, 1st
"That was one of those Macau laps where I threw absolutely everything at it. The track was getting hotter in Q2, the tyres were going away a bit, so in the first runs I didn’t want to take too many risks.
But on that final attempt I felt the grip straight away coming out of the last corner, and I said, ‘okay, this is the one’. I brushed the walls a couple of times, but that’s Macau. If you want pole here, you have to be right on the limit.
Huge thanks to the whole BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse team because the car was fantastic. Today was all about putting everything together, and we did it. Now the goal is to win the race and finish the season on a high.”
Yann Ehrlacher, 2nd
"I’m really happy with P2. On my first run in Q2 I hit the wall quite hard coming out of Turn 4, and I wasn’t sure if I had broken something on the car. At Macau, if something breaks and you crash, you’re not just out; you lose your lap and you can end up disqualified for causing a red flag. So, I said to myself, okay, that lap should be enough for the top five, and I didn’t want to risk more. With the compensation weight we’re carrying, P2 is a great result.
The team did a fantastic job, and it’s good to see the pace everyone has found.
Starting on the front row in Macau is always good. The run to Lisboa is long, so we need a strong getaway tomorrow, but I’m happy with P2 and now the focus is on scoring big points in the race.”
Thed Björk, 3rd
“I’m really happy with P3. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting us to be quite this far up today, so it’s a great result. Congratulations to Bebu – that was an incredible lap – and also to Yann for his clever approach to qualifying.
Yann has been really smart all season, and that’s what you need to do if you want to be champion. I have big respect for him.
From our side, the car felt good and I pushed as much as I could without taking stupid risks, which is a very fine balance here.
I think the races are going to be exciting. Anything can happen around here, and we’ll give it everything we’ve got.”
Picture: WSC/Jun Qian Motorsport
