Yann Ehrlacher happy with top five showing

Yann Ehrlacher insisted he was happy with a top five result in qualifying in Sochi, despite missing out on pole for the final round of the World Touring Car Cup season.

The Lynk & Co driver holds a healthy 36 point lead in the standings coming into the Russian weekend and showed his pace in a wet second practice session, where he was able to set the fastest time.

Having made it through Q1, Ehrlacher set the fastest time in the second phase of qualifying to earn a place in the shootout for pole, where he elected to run first with the potential for rain to affect the final part of the session.

Lapping slower than in Q2, it quickly became clear that the lap wouldn’t be good enough for pole, with team-mate Yvan Muller ultimately grabbing top spot with a lap more than two seconds quicker.

However, an additional bonus point for Ehrlacher allowed him to extend his advantage in the standings over Frédéric Vervisch after the Audi driver posted the ninth best time – meaning he will start race one from P2 on the reverse grid.

“We did a mega lap in Q2 in the only part of qualifying where it didn’t count for points!” he said. “We got into Q3 which was the main thing and we’re now well placed to score points in both races.

“That was the focus so the result today is alright and we have to make sure that we get things spot on tomorrow.”