Mikel Azcona heads Hyundai 1-2 in first TCR World Tour qualifying of 2026
Mikel Azcona claimed the first FIA TCR World Tour pole position of 2026 in qualifying at Misano in Italy, heading a BRC Hyundai 1-2 with team-mate Norbert Michelisz just 0.034 seconds behind.
Reigning champion Yann Ehrlacher claimed an impressive third place on debut of the new Geely Preface TCR, 0.166 seconds from pole position.
The Frenchman headed his two Geely Cyan Racing team-mates Santiago Urrutia and Thed Björk in positions four and five.
ALM Motorsport driver Ruben Volt, who topped the Q1 session, was fastest of the Honda drivers in sixth place, just below eight tenths from pole.
Aurélien Comte was once again the lead Cupra driver in seventh place, 0.822 seconds from pole, ahead of fellow Frenchman Julien Briché in eighth.
Ma Qing Hua took ninth for Cyan Racing while local hero Gabriele Covini claimed tenth and the reversed grid pole position for Race 2.
The new regulations for 2026 means that if Ma sets the fastest lap of Race 1, he will be promoted to the reversed grid pole position of Race 2.
Jenson Brickley finished eleventh while disaster struck GOAT Racing’s Esteban Guerrieri who finished the Q2 session 12th without a recorded lap time.
Guerrieri had his first lap time deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 6 and as the Argentinian driver started his final attempt in the dying minutes of the session, he was hit with a technical issue and stopped on track.
World touring car returnee Jean-Karl Vernay missed the Q2 cut by just 0.102 seconds, finishing 13th, right behind his team-mate Comte in the Q1 session.
The first race of the weekend starts at 16:20 CEST.
