Photo: WTCR

Rob Huff leads SLR Volkswagen 1-2 in disrupted Vila Real qualifying

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Rob Huff has taken pole position for the 2018 World Touring Car Cup race at Vila Real, outqualifying Sébastien Loeb Racing team-mate Mehdi Bennani in a session which overran by almost 40 minutes with four red flag stoppages.

Although YMR’s Thed Björk had set the pace in practice, Huff showed there was hidden pace in the Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR as he went faster than Björk’s first run with a time of 2:01.328.

The session was red-flagged for debris, with Huff improving his time to 2:01.000 on his second lap after the first stoppage, but qualifying was soon under the red flags again when Gianni Morbidelli crashed out his Mulsanne Racing Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR at the chicane.

When the session resumed again, championship leader Yann Ehrlacher wrestled his ballast-laden Honda up to fourth, while Mehdi Bennani jumped ahead of the BRC Hyundai of Norbert Michelisz for second, while Huff improved his pole time to 2:00.924.

Qualifying was red-flagged a third time with 6:50 to go, and then again with just over two minutes remaining when Jean-Karl Vernay crashed out his Team WRT Audi RS 3 LMS, with the session not resumed.

Huff therefore secures his second pole of the 2018 season, leading the first SLR Volkswagen 1-2 in the World Touring Car Cup, with Michelisz the best-placed Hyundai in third.

Ehrlacher qualified fourth ahead of practice pace-setter Björk who was fifth, ahead of his YMR team-mate Yvan Muller.

John Filippi was the fastest of the Cupras in seventh, with Esteban Guerrieri’s Münnich Honda eighth, Gabriele Tarquini’s BRC Hyundai ninth and Vernay completing the top ten despite finishing the session with a damaged front-left wheel.

The first race of the weekend follows at 16:00 WEST / 17:00 CEST.