Néstor Girolami: “I took a lot of risks”

Hyundai driver Néstor Girolami “took a lot of risks” during is final lap in qualifying at the Guia street circuit in Macau to secure his first FIA TCR World Tour pole position of the year.

“We put everything together when it counted,” Girolami told TouringCarTimes.

“In the Q2 the track temperature was getting hotter, so there was more degradation in the tyres. But I knew Macau was so good, I had a lot of pace in Q1, and I didn’t want to crash the car.”

The Argentinian driver has endured a trying 2025 season and is currently placed ninth overall behind both of his BRC Hyundai team-mates.

“Still, I’m very happy because it’s difficult to put everything together in Macau, so I’m very happy and very grateful to the team, everyone has worked hard so we can finish the season on a high,” said Girolami.

The session saw several incidents, including Girolami’s team-mate Mikel Azcona ruining his first attempt after touching the barriers.

“The truth is that you must respect Macau a lot and to put everything together one must take a high risk,” Girolami explained.

“So I wanted to take that risk at the right moment, which was the Q2.

“And I did a first lap to be in the top five and, in my second attempt, I put everything, grazing the walls, touching the walls, with the adrenaline at 1000 per hour, and the car responded. I took a lot of risks to do that lap and I’m very happy to have achieved it.

The Hyundai driver will have the Lynk & Co Cyan Racing duo of Yann Ehrlacher and Thed Björk surrounding him on the grid for the first race.

“The car is very well balanced, it’s in a good window, I don’t have any doubts that I have a good pace for the race, so we have to do a good start and get our target of finishing on top at Macau in a year that has been difficult for us,” said Girolami.