Yann Ehrlacher: “The extra weight helped us”

Cyan Racing driver Yann Ehrlacher scored a strong FIA TCR World Tour pole position on the streets of Vila Real despite carrying 30kg of weight, something he believes played to his advantage.

“30 kilos is something, but Vila Real is the best track to add the weight, because it’s a street track,” Ehrlacher explained to TouringCarTimes.

“So, if you take this, you compensate because, according to our calculation, Monza is the worst, but this is the best.”

The Frenchman dominated both free practice sessions ahead of qualifying.

“So I was a bit lucky to get some weight here because I could perform today and it was good, pole position and P1 all day, so yes, I like Vila Real quite much!” said Ehrlacher.

Despite his dominance, the Lynk & Co driver doesn’t think that victory in Race 1 is a given, choosing to stay cautious.

“We will see tomorrow, it’s a long race, we have to do a good start and there is a lot of things to do,” said Ehrlacher.

“For now, I’ve just enjoyed the day, it has been very intense and I’m happy to be on pole position, score the points, so I’m happy at the moment.”

Ehrlacher stayed in the pits after his first attempt while his competitors went for a second run, with Hyundai driver Mikel Azcona and Honda’s Esteban Guerrieri painting purple sectors.

“My engineer told me they were doing purple sectors. I was happy with my second and third sectors because I had taken some risks, but the temperatures had cooled down. I was ready to start a lap, but it wasn’t necessary in the end,” said Ehrlacher.

The Frenchman now heads the standings on 208 points, 23 more than Guerrieri.