Yann Ehrlacher believes top five shootout was possible

RC Motorsport Lada driver Yann Ehrlacher believes it was possible to make the top five shootout in qualifying today at Ningbo, but a call by his engineer made sure instead that he grabbed the tenth in qualifying, which gives him pole position for the reversed top ten opening race tomorrow in China.

Ehrlacher, who took his first WTCC victory last time out in the reversed grid first race in Argentina, will start on pole ahead of fellow Frenchman John Filippi’s Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroën, but knows he will face a tough challenge from behind.

“Starting P1 is quite a good place, and we just have to make it through the first few corners and to manage my race,” said Ehrlacher to TouringCarTimes.

“We also have to manage the drop off of the tyres, as it’s quite high here. We’re using the front tyres a lot, and I’m not too happy with my quali, I think we had the pace to make Q3. I’d prefer to have done P7 in quali, but my engineer was being clever in asking me to back off and stay P10, as we had no danger from behind. If you miss the top five and start P6 or P7, you’re in a dangerous spot starting from the middle in the two races.”

Looking ahead to the race, Ehrlacher added: “I’m more scared about the second row with Nicky Catsburg (and Esteban Guerrieri) then I am about John (Filippi), but we still have to be careful about everyone; even when it’s John who’s starting near me. I’ll probably do a manual start, which will make it easier as we are struggling with the procedure.”