Norbert Michelisz leads Hyundai 1-2 in first qualifying at Vila Real
Championship contender Norbert Michelisz has taken pole position for the first race of the weekend at Vila Real, outqualifying his BRC Racing team colleague Augusto Farfus by three-tenths of a second in an eventful session.
The session was a fight between both Michelisz and last year’s Race 1 pole-sitter Huff, with Michelisz setting the early pace before Huff went quickest at the half-way point with a time of 2:00.005.
Just after that, the first of two full course cautions were deployed, with Gabriele Tarquini hitting a tyre stack and dislodging it, with the Italian’s time deleted and sending him to the back of the grid.
When the session resumed, Nicky Catsburg went second fastest in his BRC Hyundai, before he also hit the tyre stack, caused a FCY and lost his time, and fell back to sixth and also had damage to the front-right of his i30 N TCR.
With under ten minutes to go, Michelisz produced a new qualifying lap record to go fastest with a time of 1:59.498, while Farfus improved to go second with Yann Ehrlacher placing his Cyan Racing Lynk & Co third ahead of Huff’s Volkswagen.
Ma Qing Hua also produced a great time and went fifth, before returning to the pits with a puncture.
Huff was looking to respond to Michelisz’s time, but hit the kerbs hard and stopped on circuit after the chequered flag, and had to settle for fourth.
Catsburg finished sixth ahead of Aurélien Panis’s Comtoyou Racing Cupra in seventh, with Johan Kristoffersson’s Volkswagen eighth.
Thed Björk qualified ninth in his Lynk & Co 03 TCR, while Kevin Ceccon qualified his Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce in tenth, but will drop to 20th following a ten-place grid penalty, with Gabriele Tarquini promoted to tenth in his Hyundai.
Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Mehdi Bennani and KCMG driver Attila Tassi will both start at the back of the grid following engine changes ahead of the weekend.
Race 1 is scheduled for 15:15 WEST this afternoon (16:15 CEST).
