Tom Blomqvist claims pole position in cold Pool Fast qualifying

Cupra EKS’ Tom Blomqvist claimed pole position in the Pool Fast qualifying session at the Sachsenring on Saturday morning, with the Briton making the most of the difficult conditions for the FIA ETCR cars in the early session.

Dry but very cold conditions welcomed the FIA ETCR field at the Sachsenring, with the Pool Fast qualifying session taking place with air temperatures of just eight degrees Celsius. The stewards had issued a change in the regulations, forbidding tyre pressure changes between the Q1 and Q2.

Blomqvist struggled with the tyre grip in his first outing in the Q1, spinning on his out lap but was able to recover under his own power.

Maxime Martin dominated the one-flying lap effort in Q1 with a time of 1:28.132, ahead of Hyundai’s Nicky Catsburg, driving the Veloster N ETCR, and championship rival Mattias Ekström.

Giovanni Venturini was fourth driving the second Giulia ETCR, ahead of Blomqvist and Jean-Karl Vernay.

Action started promptly in the Q2 session, with the drivers eager to make the most of the conditions and Blomqvist leading the field after the first flying lap with a time of 1:27.837, followed by team-mate Ekström just one-tenth behind.

The Giulia ETCRs came next with Venturini and Martin, with the Belgian 0.246 seconds off the pace, followed by the Hyundais of Catsburg and Vernay.

“It was a big improvement, I knew the car was very decent and it got better and better with every lap,” said Blomqvist after scoring the Pool Fast pole position

Blomqvist, Ekström and Venturini go through to the Quarter Final 1, with Martin, Catsburg and Vernay in the second group.

The FIA ETCR returns to action at 10:55 CEST for the Pool Furious qualifying session.