Yann Ehrlacher: “Anything can happen in Macau”

Championship leader Yann Ehrlacher (Lynk & Co) took a step closer to securing the 2025 FIA TCR World Tour drivers’ crown after qualifying in second place for Race 1 in Macau, one position ahead of his main title rival and team-mate Thed Björk.

“I want to congratulate Néstor (Girolami) because getting pole position in Macau is always good,” Ehrlacher told TouringCarTimes. “I still don’t know how it feels to get it, though.”

The Cyan Racing driver brushed the wall during his first attempt and opted to not go for a second attempt.

“I was expecting them (Hyundai) to be on pole, to be honest,” the Frenchman said.

“I hit the wall out of Turn 4 in my first attempt and I wasn’t sure if there was something wrong with the car. In Macau, if something breaks you can crash out and, if I cause a red flag, I lose my best lap time and qualifying is ruined.

“So I thought that this lap would be good enough for top five and I didn’t want to risk. We are in P2 with 30 kilos of compensation weight, so it’s good, because in Macau anything can happen but the team got everything together.”

Ehrlacher has now extended his championship lead to 36 points over Björk with 60 points remaining from the two races this weekend.

“Getting a good lap is not easy and our guys found pace from the last time, and starting from the front row is always good in Macau,” added Ehrlacher.

“If we can get away, with 30 kilos the run down to Lisboa is quite long. At the end of the day, it is what it is and I’m happy to be in P2.”