Photo: TCR Iberian

Mora and Abreu on top in double red-flagged Vila Real qualifying sessions

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Francisco Mora and Francisco Abreu claimed one pole position each in the two qualifying sessions of TCR Iberia at Vila Real in Portugal, with red flags coming out in both sessions due to crashes.

The first session was red flagged as Speedy Motorsport driver Rita Graça hit the barriers hard, with the team not yet sure whether the SEAT León will be repaired in time for the first race tomorrow.

Fellow SEAT driver Mora claimed pole for the first race with a best lap time of 2:04.177, just over two tenths of a second ahead of Audi RS 3 LMS driver Rafael Lobato.

Abreu, who claimed pole for race two, was third fastest in the first session with his Volkswagen Golf GTI, 1.348 seconds from pole.

José Pedro Faria, Kia, and Edgar Florindo, SEAT, rounded off the top five of Qualifying 1.

The second session, determining the grid for the second race, saw Abreu claiming pole with a lap time of 2:04.654, just over eight tenths of a second ahead of SEAT driver Nuno Batista.

Race one pole-sitter Mora was third fastest and the final driver within one second from the best time at 0.918 seconds behind.

Patrick Cunha was fourth fastest in his Audi RS 3 LMS, 1.1 seconds behind, with Cesar Machado rounding off the top five in his SEAT León, 1.242 seconds adrift.