Andreas Bäckman retains Race 2 pole position despite penalty

Target Competition’s Andreas Bäckman has retained pole for the second TCR Europe race of the weekend in Barcelona, despite being stripped of his two fastest times in qualifying.

The Swedish driver had two laps deleted for exceeding track limits during Q2 in his Hyundai i30 N TCR, which corresponded to his fastest laps in the session.

Despite that, the best time that did count for Bäckman was still good enough for tenth place on the timesheets, which ensures that he will remain on pole for Sunday’s second race thanks to the reverse grid rule in place in the series.

Bäckman will share the front row in race two with sister Jessica.