In a wet qualifying session at the Inje Speedium, Thed Björk claimed his first pole of the season driving his Lynk & Co to complete a lap in 1:51.698. The Swede was the only driver to break the 1:52 wall and beat Josh Buchan by half-a-second, with the Australian qualifying the best of the Hyundai pack, while his BRC colleagues seemed to be struggling with handling problems.
Yann Ehrlacher clocked the third fastest lap – ahead of his teammates Ma Qing Hua and Santiago Urrutia – and further stretched his points lead ahead of Esteban Guerrieri who was placed a disappointing sixth with a Q2 time that was 1.7 slower than his fastest lap in Q1.
The session started on a wet track and Urrutia posted the first fastest lap in 1:53.450 that was soon bettered by Guerrieri’s 1:52.898. The Argentine driver improved further to 1:52.050, while Björk moved into P2 with a lap of 1:52.802 just before the session was red-flagged after Reignbert Diwa’s Hyundai spun off at T15.
Q1 resumed with four minutes left on the clock and there was a fierce fight to make the top ten, as some top drivers were off the cut: Girolami, Montenegro and Michelisz.
None of them managed to improve, while Urrutia (1:52.567) and Buchan (1:52.909) advanced to second and fourth.
The others who made the cut were Ehrlacher, Ma, Mikel Azcona, Aurélien Comte and the Parks. The best of TCR Asia was Choi Jeong Weon with a new engine in 16th position just ahead of Diego Moran.
Ehrlacher topped the timesheet at the beginning of Q2 with a lap of 1:52.470 but Björk posted an impressive 1:51.698 that granted him the pole. The late improvements came again from Buchan (1:52.339) and Urrutia (1:53.469), the Australian made the front row, while Urrutia qualified fifth behind Ma.
Guerrieri, Comte, Junesung Park, Junui Park and Azcona closed the top ten.
Björk said: "It was not easy. First time on track with rain tyres. Everyone was fighting and trying to adjust the cars as fast as possible but I'm really happy to have the pole. All points are so crucial now as we come towards the end of the season!"
Race 1 will start at 16:05 local time (09:05 CEST).
Qualifying
1:51.698 Thed Björk (Lynk & Co Cyan Racing, Lynk & Co 03 FL)
1:52.239 Josh Buchan (HMO Customer Racing, Hyundai Elantra N)
1:52.470 Yann Ehrlacher (Lynk & Co Cyan Racing, Lynk & Co 03 FL)
Championship points – TCR World Tour
- Y. Ehrlacher, 304 pts; 2. E. Guerrieri, 262; 3. T. Björk, 258
Championship points – TCR Asia
- Chang C.S., 208 pts; 2. B. Santoso, 158; 3. D. Moran, 153
Picture: WSC/Jun Qian Motorsport
