Photo: TCR Europe

Viktor Andersson breaks qualifying lap record to first 2026 pole

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Viktor Andersson broke the TCR Europe qualifying lap record to claim his first pole position of 2026 at Paul Ricard.

The Monlau Motorsport driver set a fastest lap time of 2:10.720 to beat points leader and ALM Motorsport Honda driver Mike Halder by 0.220 seconds.

Andersson’s team-mate Marco Butti made it two Cupras in the top three, 0.401 seconds from pole.

Nicola Baldan took his Audi to fourth place, just below half a second from pole, ahead of Honda driver Tiago Pernía in fifth.

Junui Park was once again fastest of the Hyundai drivers in sixth place, 0.621 seconds from pole, with Mikhail Simonov in seventh.

Local hero Victor Weyrich, who topped the final practice session, claimed eighth on the grid ahead of TCR Italy champion Nicolas Taylor.

BRC Racing Hyundai driver Gabriele Covini rounded off the top ten, thus securing the reversed grid pole position for Race 2.

The first race of the weekend starts at 18:15 CEST today.