Vibration issue ruins Néstor Girolami’s qualifying and Volvo’s MAC3

Néstor Girolami was unable to make the most of his appearance in the top five shootout at the Hungararing, after the Argentinian suffered with a vibration on his Polestar Volvo S60, which also hampered the manufacturer in MAC3, effectively handing Honda an easy win in the time trial event.

Girolami was the fastest of the Volvo drivers in the second segment of qualifying, setting the fourth fastest time overall, but dropped behind team-mate Nicky Catsburg on his run, complaining of a technical issue.

“The car was really good before I got a problem with vibrations,” said Girolami. “I am really happy with the balance of the car, we did many changes to the set-up before qualifying that worked really well. The team has done a good job and I am quite confident for tomorrow.”

Team-mate Catsburg’s time was good enough for fourth on the grid, with the Dutchman rueing a mistake on his qualifying run.

“We did a good job by beating Honda in our first qualifying session with full compensation weight,” he said. “I did a mistake in the last sector on my lap in Q3, but I am happy to be in the top five and we are in a good position for the races tomorrow.”