Martin Andersen beats Jessica Bäckman to Lausitzring pole position
Team Engstler’s Martin Andersen claimed the pole position for the first TCR Germany race of the weekend at the Lausitzring after an intense fight with Hyundai driver Jessica Bäckman.
Andersen rose to the top half-way through Friday evening’s qualifying session, but soon Bäckman would steal the top spot, with both alternating at the top until the chequered flag.
The Team Engstler driver prevailed with a lap time of 1:28.582, just 0.042 seconds faster than Bäckman.
Szymon Ladniak (Honda) was third, four-tenths from pole, with Nordpass’ Jonas Karklys (Hyundai i30 N TCR) right behind in fourth.
ROJA Motorsport drivers René Kircher and Robin Jahr, both driving Hyundais, locked out the third row of the grid, a second behind Andersen.
Mauer Motorsport’s Vincent Radermecker (Holden Astra TCR) was seventh, ahead of Max Gruhn, driving the sole Audi RS 3 LMS of the field.
Patrick Sing qualified his Hyundai in ninth place ahead of Roland Herner, who was investigated for speeding in the pit lane. Michael Maurer closed the classification in eleventh place.
The qualifying session results allow Andersen to extend his lead in the series to 244 points, 31 ahead of Bäckman and 76 over Ladniak.
The TCR Germany field returns to the track on Saturday morning for the qualifying session for Race 2.
