Yann Ehrlacher has claimed the first pole position for Geely in the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour, after leading a Geely Cyan Racing top-three lockout in qualifying at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia.
The Frenchman led the way in both parts of qualifying, finishing just ahead of teammates Thed Björk and Santiago Urrutia.
The closest threat to the three Geely cars came from BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse, with championship leader Mikel Azcona qualifying fourth at his home circuit, just ahead of teammate Norbert Michelisz.
Aurélien Comte was the best of the CUPRA contingent, just over half a second off the pace in his Leon VZ, ahead of Ma Qing Hua the fourth of the Geely drivers, meaning the Chinese driver is well-placed again for the reversed-grid Race 2 on Sunday morning.
Jenson Brickley was the fastest of the Honda cars, with the European champion eighth quickest just ahead of TCR Spain frontrunner Sten-Dorian Piirimägi, who claimed the TCR Spain pole position.
Julien Briché qualified tenth, securing the reversed-grid pole position in his JSB Compétition Hyundai, while TCR Spain points leader Viktor Andersson ended up in 11th, after losing two of his lap times due to track limits infringements at Turn 1.
Jimmy Clairet was 12th fastest on his world touring car debut with ALM Motorsport.
The first race is scheduled for this afternoon at 17:10 CEST.
Qualifying
1:17.717 – Yann Ehrlacher (Geely Cyan Racing, Geely Preface)
1:17.870 – Thed Björk (Geely Cyan Racing, Geely Preface)
1:17.903 – Santiago Urrutia (Geely Cyan Racing, Geely Preface)
Championship points
- M. Azcona, 73 pts.; 2. Y. Ehrlacher, 63; 3. T. Björk, 54
Picture: WSC/Fastclick-Avensimages
