Nicolas Baert claims maiden TCR Europe pole at Zolder

Comtoyou Racing’s Nicolas Baert backed up his Friday practice form by securing his maiden TCR Europe series pole position at Zolder.

The Belgian, racing on home soil this weekend, set a best time of 1:36.155 to go almost four-tenths quicker than the BRC Racing Hyundai i30 N TCR of Mat’o Homola.

Comtoyou enjoyed a very competitive session, with Baert’s team-mates Mehdi Bennani managing third on grid and Sami Taoufik ending up fourth.

For Bennani, it is a strong haul of points for the championship. The Moroccan scored eight points, moving him into the lead of the standings ahead of Race 1 later on today. Erstwhile points leader Dan Lloyd (Brutal Fish Racing Honda Civic Type-R TCR) could only manage tenth and therefore a solitary point from qualifying.

Lloyd will however start the reversed grid second race from pole alongside Profi Car Team Halder’s Michelle Halder.

Q1

Target Competition’s John Filippi set an initial benchmark of 1:38.318, just over a tenth quicker than team-mate Andreas Bäckman.

The similar Hyundai i30 N TCR of BRC Racing’s Mat’o Homola then went faster with a 1:37.952, but was immediately beaten by his own team-mate Dáni Nagy.

Julien Briché (JSB Compétition Peugeot 308TCR) and Bennani also took turns at the top of the table soon after.

The Audis were especially rapid during the 20-minute Q1 session, using the tow and the straight-line speed of the RS 3 LMS to great effect.

FP2 pace-setter Baert then went fastest, with Taoufik splitting the Belgian and Bennani in second. Bennani’s final lap was enough to put him second, ensuring a Comtoyou Racing one-two-three.

Bäckman struggled to get a time good enough for the top 12 to get through to Q2 all session, but produced a superb lap as the flag fell to put his Target Hyundai fourth.

Behind the Audis and Hyundais, all five Hondas made it through to Q2, with Profi Car Team Halder’s Michelle Halder the best of ther Civic Type-Rs in eighth.

She led brother Mike and the three Brutal Fish Racing cars of Dan Lloyd, Pepe Oriola and Martin Ryba.

Missing out on Q2 were the two Team Clairet Sport Peugeot 308TCRs of Teddy and Jimmy Clairet as well as the third Target Hyundai of Jessica Bäckman. The latter pair had two lap times disallowed due to exceeding track limits at Turns nine and 15 respecvtively.

Q2

The second segment of qualifying was red flagged early on after Ryba spun and clipped a tyre stack at turn eight.

Once the session was restarted, Baert again set the quickest time of 1:36.155, which was nearly four-tenths faster than Homola’s best.

Unlike in Q1, there was much less activity on the timesheets, with many electing to leave their final flying laps until the very end. Mike Halder moved up into fourth place but was soon beaten by Taoufik.

After a terrible time at Paul Ricard, Julien Briché ended up seventh fastest, while a late effort from Michelle Halder moved her up from 11th to ninth, therefore securing a place on the front row for Sunday’s second race.

The first race of the weekend starts at 15:30 CEST today.