Photo: TCR Asia

Kantadhee Kusiri takes commanding pole position in Shanghai

Kantadhee Kusiri took pole position at Shanghai in his Team Engstler Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR. The Thai will be joined on the front row by Ecuadorian team-mate Diego Moran, with TCR China pole sitters Sunny Wong and Alex Fung in third in their sequential gearbox-equipped Golf.

The Hong Kong duo held pole position for seven minutes until Kusiri went almost four tenths faster than them, Moran following suit soon after to take the second spot of the grid. Chu Han Huang will start fourth in his Audi RS 3 LMS, ahead of Macau specialist Filipe de Souza with his co-equipier Samuel Hsieh in their Volkswagen Golf.

Andy Yan finished sixth in his Audi, ahead of Volkswagen’s Alex Hui and former WTCC driver Qing Hua Ma. TCR Asia driver Abdul Kaathir will be eighth on the grid in his Honda Civic TCR, ahead of SEAT’s Douglas Khoo and Honda’s Tin Sritrai. Championship leader Wee Sing Lai was only 11th in his Honda Civic TCR.

Kusiri’s margin over his team-mate of more than three tenths is remarkable, considering the tight gaps between the drivers during this session. The Thai’s pole position was never under threat once he clocked his best lap time. His margin had been even bigger during free practice, as the Volkswagen driver was over one second quicker than anyone in both sessions.

The first race of the weekend will start at 15:40 local time (9:40 CET).