Photo: WTCR

Nathanaël Berthon nets two pole positions at Slovakiaring

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Audi driver Nathanaël Berthon claimed two pole positions for the World Touring Car Cup races at the Slovakiaring.

The Comtoyou Racing driver topped the first Q1 session, beating Hyundai driver Nicky Catsburg by 0.461 seconds.

Jean-Karl Vernay made it three different makes in the top three for Alfa Romeo team Mulsanne, finishing third just three thousands of a second behind Catsburg.

Gilles Magnus underlined the strong performance of the Audi RS 3 LMS drivers in fourth position ahead of former WTCR champion Gabriele Tarquini.

Reigning champion Norbert Michelisz set the sixth fastest time ahead of Néstor Girolami and Tom Coronel. Esteban Guerrieri was ninth ahead of Lynk & Co Cyan Racing driver Santiago Urrutia.

Atilla Tassi and Luca Filippi were the last two drivers to make it onto the Q2 session.

Championship leader Yann Ehrlacher could only manage 15th position behind the wheel of his Lynk & Co 03 TCR.

The Q2 session was red flagged as Münnich Motorsport driver Tassi spun in spectacular style, hitting the barriers. The session resumed with six minutes left.

Néstor Girolami finished tenth in the Q2 session, thereby securing the reversed Race 2 grid pole position.

The final Q3 session saw Berthon again on top of the standings, claiming pole by 0.283 seconds ahead of BRC driver Michelisz and 0.371 seconds ahead of Team Engstler driver Catsburg.

Coronel and Magnus rounded off the top five, four and eight tenths of a second from pole respectively.

The first race of the Slovakiaring weekend starts at 09:15 CEST tomorrow.