Photo: ACI Sport

Eric Brigliadori claims pole position in very close Vallelunga qualifying

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BF Motorsport’s Eric Brigliadori took pole position in a very close qualifying session for the third round of the 2021 TCR Italy championship at Vallelunga, beating Nicola Baldan and Salvatore Tavano by 0.048 and 0.088 seconds respectively.

The session, held under sunny and hot conditions, started with plenty of action on the track but with the free practice dominators, Brigliadori and Scuderia del Girasole’s Tavano waiting for ten minutes to venture onto the track.

Brigliadori rose to the top spot ahead of Aggressive Team’s Kevin Ceccon and Tavano that posted identical lap times, 0.215 seconds off the pace.

The session was red flagged with 11:22 on the clock as Tecnodom Sport driver Jonathan Giacon went off the track.

The session was restarted and Brigliadori improved his lap time to clock 1:40.271 and Tavano also attempting a fast lap, climbing up to second. Target Competition’s Antti Buri (Hyundai I30 N TCR) improved to climb past Ceccon to be third.

But Baldan of Target Competition climbed up to second place with just two minutes to go.

Buri qualified in fourth place, ahead of Elite Motorsport’s Michele Imberti and Ceccon. Honda Civic team-mates Volt Ruben and Mattias Vahtel claimed positions seven and eight.

The start of Race 1 is scheduled for Sunday morning at 11:00 CEST.