Thed Björk leads Cyan Racing top four lockout in Zandvoort first qualifying
Thed Björk had claimed the first pole position for Lynk & Co Cyan Racing in the World Touring Car Cup, with the Swede leading an all-Lynk & Co top four ahead of team-mates Yvan Muller, Andy Priaulx and Yann Ehrlacher, with last year’s TCR Europe series champion Mikel Azcona their closest threat, half a second behind.
The four blue cars dominated the session throughout, with all of their drivers taking turns to the lead the time sheets, but Björk eventually came out on top with a time of 1:44.080, just under a tenth of a second ahead of Yvan Muller.
Andy Priaulx was third in his 03 TCR, with Ehrlacher just a further tenth behind in the #68 entry.
The Volkswagen Group cars followed, with Mikel Azcona fifth in his PWR Racing Cupra TCR, followed by the two Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagens of Benjamin Leuchter and Johan Kristoffersson, with Daniel Haglöf finishing eighth, despite losing a lap time earlier in the session when he brought out a Full Course Yellow when he dislodged a tyre stack.
Jean-Karl Vernay was the best of the Audis in tenth, with Mehdi Bennani completing the top ten in his SLR Volkswagen.
The session wasn’t as bad for the Hyundais as it was last year, but their best charge was Nicky Catsburg in 11th, while his BRC Racing team-mate Augusto Farfus lost a lot of time after damaging the front of his i30 N TCR following an off.
The top Honda driver was championship leader Néstor Girolami, who qualified 14th. The Hondas were all set for a late improvement before the KCMG Honda of Tiago Monteiro went off track and brought out the red flag with just 1m34 remaining, with the session not resumed.
With Monteiro losing his best time, the Portuguese driver will start Race 1 from last place.
The Team Mulsanne Alfa Romeos struggled, with Slovakia Race 3 winner Ma Qing Hua their best-placed runner in 23rd, with Kevin Ceccon 25th.
The race is scheduled for 14:35 CEST.
