Néstor Girolami says cooler temperatures enabled “difficult” pole position

Münnich Motorsport driver Néstor Girolami led a “difficult” 1-2 for the Honda team during qualifying for the Pau-Ville WTCR season opener, making the most of a red-flagged session.

The session was red-flagged when Thed Björk crashed, with the Q2 and Q3 sessions delayed by nearly an hour.

Girolami believes this was key for the team to extract the extra performance from the Honda Civic Type R TCR.

“It was truly difficult, with the potential Lynk & Co have, to be on the front row,” Girolami told TouringCarTimes.

“I think the main factor was the temperature drop in the session due to the red flag. This temperature drop made our cars perform really well, as they do better in cooler conditions, and I think that played in our favour.”

Girolami also said the level of tactics of rival teams was hard to predict.

“It’s then difficult to know how much did everyone commit. We went 100%, we play fair and work until the end to get that extra tenth,” said Girolami.

“When Esteban set the fastest lap time in the Q2 I knew that register was possible for me, I had to try to find the lap time.

“I’m very happy for this result and for claiming the pole position on a mythical track. I already have the Nordschleife, now Pau… I still have to get Macau, which is another of the most demanding tracks in the world. It’s great to start the season with the right foot,” added the Argentinean.

Both Girolami and team-mate Esteban Guerrieri know their competitors are strong and they are confident to work out the best strategy possible to maximise the result in the race: “Tomorrow we will work as a team and not create any complications, as the result is for the team and we must be as fair as possible, so we will work out with the team the best possible strategies for tomorrow.”