Photo: TCR Italy

Eric Brigliadori takes last gasp pole position in Monza season opener

BF Motorsport driver Eric Brigliadori (Audi RS 3 LMS) claimed the first pole position of the 2021 TCR Italy series season at a wet Monza circuit.

Brigliadori set a best lap time of 2:01.887 at the very end of the session, with Race Lab’s Matteo Poloni, also driving an Audi, a close second, just 0.066 seconds behind the pole sitter.

Reigning champion Salvatore Tavano, driving a Cupra Leon Competición from Scuderia del Girasole, had to settle for third place, 0.326 seconds off the pace.

Macedonian Igor Stefanovski, at the wheel of a Hyundai i30 N TCR from AKK Stefanovski, was fourth, albeit eight-tenths off the pace, closely followed by series’ newcomer Antti Buri of Target Competition.

Tecnodom Sport driver Jonathan Giacon finished in sixth place, 1.5 seconds off the pace, followed by the Hyundai i30 N TCR of Kevin Ceccon.

ALM Motorsport’s Mattias Vahtel, driving a Honda Civic Type-R TCR, qualified in eighth place, 1.6 seconds from pole. And with the reversed grid rule, Vahtel will start Race 2 from pole position on Sunday.

Volcano Motorsport’s Evgenii Leonov was ninth, with Nicola Baldan, driving a Hyundai i30 N TCR from Target Competition, completing the top ten, 2.3 seconds off the pace.

The start of Race 1 is scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 13:40 CEST.