Yvan Muller hits a monumental pole position for Race 2 of the FIA WTCR in Sochi, thanks to a fantastic performance in Q3.
Russian qualifications that gave endless emotions, also due to a damp track that gradually improved, but not enough to allow you to mount slick tires.
The Cyan Racing driver stops the clock at 2’29 “624 placing his Lynk & Co 03 in front of everyone, something that his teammate and nephew Yann Ehrlacher, only fifth and author of too many errors in his attempt, fails. , but in any case with 1 point taken that in terms of the fight for the title can be very useful, also given the bad day of his direct rivals.
In the front row alongside Muller we will find an excellent Mikel Azcona aboard the Zengő Motorsport Cupra Leon Competición, who ‘resurrects’ after a couple of weekends to forget, while the first of the Honda Civic Type R TCRs built by JAS Motorsport is that of Néstor Girolami (ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport).
The Argentine is third (but will have to move back 3 places in the inverted grid of Race 1 due to a penalty received after Adria) and is behind Nathanaël Berthon’s Audi RS 3 LMS (Comtoyou DHL Team).
Esteban Guerrieri chews bitterly, sixth with the Honda Civic Type R TCR built by JAS Motorsport; the Argentine of ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport finds himself out of the fight for the Pole Position (and from the points) by just one thousandth with the time set by Azcona at the end of Q2.
Good result for Rob Huff with the other Cupra of Zengő Motorsport, finishing seventh behind the Hyundai Elantra N of Jean-Karl Vernay (Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team) and the Audi of Frédéric Vervisch (Comtoyou Team).
The Belgian still has very little hope of a title given that in the inverted grid of Race 1 he will start alongside the poleman and his teammate Gilles Magnus, who finished 10th in Q2, keeping behind the Lynk & Co of Santiago Urrutia (Cyan Performance) and the Hyundai by Norbert Michelisz (BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse).
The Q1 was very tight, where the improvement of the track allowed Muller to break the lead on the last lap in 2’30 “412, taking points in front of Azcona, Urrutia, Huff and Berthon, while Ehrlacher made a mistake by remaining dry, as well as Warriors.
The first of the eliminated was Attila Tassi with the Honda of (ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport), 13th and mocked for 0 “030 by Girolami and by the final time that Vervisch achieved, saving himself from exclusion after the Belgian had the front slicks card was also attempted.
The Hungarian in the seventh row will find himself alongside the Cupra of Jordi Gené (Zengő Motorsport Drivers’ Academy), while behind them are the Hyundai of Luca Engstler (Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team) and Gabriele Tarquini (BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse), the latter author of a qualification not brilliant by his own admission, as well as suffering from the ballast that weighs on his Elantra N.
Worse than the ‘Boar’ are Tom Coronel, 17th at the wheel of the second Audi of the Comtoyou DHL Team, and Thed Björk in Cyan Performance’s Lynk & Co, which follows the Dutchman and finishes in front of the Cupra of Bence Boldizs (Zengő Motorsport Drivers’ Academy).
At the bottom of the grid there are finally the Lada Vesta Sport of wildcards Kirill Ladygin and Mikhail Mityaev, transparent for the purpose of assigning points.
No Qualifying for Tiago Monteiro (ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport), who after feeling unwell upon arrival at the racetrack this morning was transferred and held in hospital for analysis, without being able to get on his Honda.
With the points awarded in Qualifying, Ehrlacher extends the drivers’ standings to 202, with Vervisch at -37, Guerrieri at -38. Muller approaches -41, but together with Urrutia (-42) he will help his colleague. Vernay, on the other hand, is mathematically cut out of the fight, given that he is at -56 when 50 points remain up for grabs.
Race 1 will take place tomorrow at 10; 15 Italian on the distance of 9 laps, while Race 2 (11 laps) is scheduled for 12; 15.
RANKING Q3
RANKING Q2
RANKING Q1
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