Frédéric Vervisch takes first career pole position at Monza
Comtoyou Racing’s Frédéric Vervisch was fastest in the qualifying session at Monza in his Audi RS 3, taking pole position ahead of local hero Roberto Colciago’s M1RA Honda.
Pepe Oriola established the a first benchmark in the 20-minute Q1, with the Craft-Bamboo SEAT drivers slipstreaming each other. Next was his team-mate Hugo Valente, who climbed up to second place, 0.198 seconds behind the Spaniard, with the third SEAT of James Nash in third, a further 0.131 seconds behind.
The DG Sport Opel drivers were on the same strategy, with Mat’o Homola running in second during the early stages, before team-mate Pierre-Yves Corthals took the top spot in the classification with a time of 2:00.946.
The Honda Civics, however, seemed to be very fast without the need of a slipstream, with Attila Tassi beating Pepe Oriola for first position, with the Hungarian from M1RA setting a best lap of 2:00.063.
Team WRT Volkswagen driver Jean-Karl Vernay climbed up to fourth position, followed by Frédéric Vervisch. WestCoast Racing’s Gianni Morbidelli and the Audi of Stefano Comini had chosen to not go out until there were seven minutes left on the clock, with the Italian climbing to 14th place on his first lap, and Comini in 17th place.
Vervisch then set the best lap in Q1, which quickly beaten by Attila Tassi, with Ferenc Fizca taking the Zele Racing’s SEAT to second. The Craft-Bamboos went out again in order to secure they made it into Q2.
Comini improved to go ninth, with James Nash and Hugo Valente in the danger zone. WestCoast Racing’s Gianni Morbidelli completed his last lap to be 13th, missing out on the top 12 by just 0.157 seconds.
Roberto Colciago ended up as fastest in Q1, with M1RA team-mate Attila Tassi second. Ferenc Ficza was the best SEAT León in third, followed by Frédéric Versvich, with Pepe Oriola in fifth. Jean-Karl Vernay followed, with Homola in seventh. Davit Kajaia was eighth in the only Alfa Romeo to make it through Q2. James Nash, Hugo Valente, Stefano Comini and Jaap Van Lagen completed the top 12.
Q2 started with Hugo Valente leading the Craft Bamboo pack, with James Nash getting ahead of him on track at Della Roggia after the Frenchman locked his brakes at the first chicane. Valente overtook the Briton again, then to go wide at Ascari, with the SEATs being overtaken by M1RA in a disastrous first lap for the Hong Kong-British team, with Pepe Oriola only managing sixth after his first attempt.
Meanwhile, Roberto Colciago jumped ahead with a time of 1:59.859, followed by Homola and van Lagen. The Italian helped team-mate Attila Tassi on the following lap so the Hungarian could be second, ahead of Vervisch and Oriola.
Davit Kajaia managed the unthinkable, taking the Alfa Romeo to third position without a tow. Tassi then went fastest, but was quickly beaten by Frédéric Vervisch with a best lap of 1:58.977, being the only man to break the 1:59 barrier.
The Belgian therefore took his first pole position in the TCR International Series, followed by Roberto Colciago and Attila Tassi. Davit Kajaia was fourth, with Mat’o Homola the best Opel Astra TCR in fifth, followed by Pepe Oriola, the fastest of the SEATs.
Championship leader Jean-Karl Vernay was seventh for Team WRT, with reigning champion Stefano Comini behind him in eighth. James Nash and Hugo Valente completed the top ten, with the Frenchman taking pole position for Race 2.
Jaap van Lagen was 11th fastest with the second Volkswagen from Team WRT, stopping on the track after his last flying lap. Ferenc Fizca was 12th, with both having those spots on the starting grid for both races.
Race 1 is scheduled for 14:30 CET today.
