Néstor Girolami elated after securing his first pole in China

Two-time Super TC 2000 champion Néstor Girolami was ecstatic after securing his first pole position for Polestar Cyan Racing, after a difficult season to-date with Volvo.

The Argentinian, who lies ninth in the standings with less than half the points of championship leader Tiago Monteiro after a season with five DNFs from 12 races, put together the perfect lap in qualifying to put his Volvo S60 on pole, three-tenths of a second clear of Norbert Michelisz’s Honda.

“The team did a fantastic job,” said Girolami. “The car was fantastic in the wet conditions, and I kept working to try and improve ourselves. It’s been a really challenging weekend for us, because it’s a new track in wet conditions, and after Q2 I felt quite nervous as the weather was still changing quite a lot.

“The race will not be easy as we have 70kg (of compensation weight), and Rob (Huff) has 50kg,” he added. “ And this circuit is very tight and narrow and the traction is not so good, but we’ve worked hard during the summer and it’s a really good feeling to be on pole position at this track.”

Team-mate Thed Björk, Volvo’s best-placed man in the drivers’ championship, was happy to see his team-mate take pole at the Ningbo International Speedpark.

“He really deserves it,” said Björk. “He’s a super-fast driver, and he really wants results so I think he now feels a lot of relief. I’ve been working very well with him, he’s a really nice guy, and he deserves this result.”

Rob Huff, who secured pole position in the independents’ classification with fourth overall in the Münnich Motorsport Citroën C-Elysée, added:

“I’m going to share the love with Volvo here, because if Néstor didn’t have bad luck, he’d have no luck at all. He’s had an awful season all through just gremlins and bad luck, and so to be on pole position today when everything’s working right, is very well deserved.”