Alex Morgan lucky to start Oschersleben Race 2 from pole after driveshaft failure

Alex Morgan is set to start tomorrow’s second race from pole position in the Wolf-Power Racing Cupra TCR, after setting the tenth fastest time in qualifying despite a sluggish lap, as two cars ran into technical difficulties.

Morgan’s first lap was a banker lap after a mistake at Turn 1, but he never got to set a second, pulling his Cupra TCR off with a broken driveshaft and looked to be a sitting duck.

However, a broken steering rack for M1RA’s Luca Engstler, and a damaged radiator for WestCoast Racing’s Gianni Morbidelli meant the two drivers couldn’t set a time at all, leaving Morgan’s lap of 1:31.716 fast enough for the reversed grid pole.

“I made a mistake on my first lap at Turn 1, and I thought I’d just carry on, do a lap and come in and put a second set on, but then the driveshaft broke and I just pulled off,” said Morgan to TouringCarTimes.

“The team told me I was P10 at the time, so on the way back I thought I was going to end up P11/P12 for both races which was going to be really disappointing after all the pace we’ve showed so far, but when I got back I was told two cars had similar issues and didn’t do a lap, so I’m still P10, which gives us the pole for Race 2.”

Morgan’s in his second weekend with the Cupra TCR, after switching from the Renault Mégane RS TCR earlier in the season, with the newly acquired car helping to deliver a turnaround in results.

“It’s been a difficult year, and the SEAT’s been good very so far,” he said.

“The Red Bull Ring went very well, having turned up on the Friday not having driven the car, and coming here this has always been a bogey circuit for me with things going wrong, I was relieved that we had good pace in practice, and converted that into a good result in qualifying. So that’s what’s important so far, and whatever happens in the races will be a bonus.”