Alex Fontana takes pole with the new Kia K3 at Tianma
Swiss driver Alex Fontana claimed pole position for the new Kia K3 2.0T in only his and the car’s second race at the Tianma circuit in Shanghai, China, for the season finale of the China Touring Car Championship Super Cup 2.0T class.
Fontana led the Haima Z1 Racing pair of He Zi Yian and Tomas Engström in the qualifying session, which was split into two parts due to the number of cars entered and the small nature of the circuit.
Fontana was in the first group, and his lap time of 1:05.829 was the best of this group ahead of Haima’s Engström and Shanghai VW 333 Racing’s Adam Morgan.
He Zi topped the second session in his Haima M6, just over three-tenths of a second slower than Fontana’s Kia.
It was a mixed session for the championship contenders, with Rainey He sixth quickest in the Changan Ford arguably the best-placed of the realistic title hopefuls, while Ford team-mate Andy Yan, second in the standings, qualified in 14th, just one spot behind championship leader Zhang Zhen Dong in the Volkswagen Lamando.
The first race is scheduled for 08:50 CST on Sunday.
