Hyundais set for 13th as best possible position on the grid for Zhejiang

The BRC Racing Team Hyundai i30s will start from 13th on the grid at best for tomorrow’s races at Zhejiang, as their temporary homologation precludes them from scoring points this weekend.

Gabriele Tarquini and Alain Menu were second and third fastest in this morning’s practice session, with the i30 N TCRs looking competitive against the pace-setting Volkswagen Golfs at the brand-new Chinese facility, but the South Korean cars will be hit by a quirk in the championship regulations during qualifying.

The two-part qualifying session’s regulations state that only the top-12 points-scoring cars can progress to Q2, where the grid the for the race is established. As the Hyundais aren’t eligible for points, should they both top the first part of qualifying, it’ll still be the 12 cars behind them that progress, with Tarquini and Menu effectively banished to 13th and 14th as their best case qualifying result for both of Sunday’s races.