The BRC Hyundai driver outpaced Yann Ehrlacher by under a tenth of a second in a final-lap shootout. Ma Qing Hua put his Geely Preface in third, with both Geely drivers bumping down their teammate and early pacesetter Santiago Urrutia to fourth as the chequered flag fell.
In the first part of qualifying, the leading contenders progressed through to Q2, but there was a fierce battle among the newcomers to secure the final transfer spots between local hero Manuel Fernandes, his Audi teammate Stian Paulsen, and the Honda of Mikael Karlsson.
Karlsson was holding 12th place and the final cut-off spot for Q2 when he hit the barriers at T5. The red flag was waved, even though Karlsson was able to return to the pit lane; he lost his best lap for causing the stoppage, meaning he had to repair his car and head back out to try and make it through to the next session.
There was another red flag with under five minutes remaining. Stian Paulsen locked up at the T18 chicane and nudged into the barriers, before being collected by his Vannin Motorsport teammate Fernandes. With both cars requiring recovery, the session eventually resumed with Karlsson and the CUPRA of Enzo Gianfratti fighting hard to eclipse Fernandes and Paulsen who still held the final two spots. Karlsson demoted Paulsen but was immediately bumped back down by Gianfratti, with the Brazilian impressively making it into Q2.
Just 11 cars took part in Q2 as Fernandes’ Audi could not be returned to the pit lane in time. Norbert Michelisz locked up and returned to the pits with a broken driveshaft, but the team was able to repair the car, allowing him to head back out and set the ninth-fastest time.
Thed Björk strategically sat out the first run and went out with the track to himself, deliberately setting a time which secured him P10, which provisionally secures him the pole for Race 2.
Urrutia’s first flying lap went under the circuit's lap record, but the final improvements from his teammates Ma and Ehrlacher, alongside the pole-winning lap from Azcona, demoted him to fourth on the grid, this also cost him the lead, falling three points behind Azcona.
Drivers’ quotes after the qualifying
Mikel Azcona, 1st: “In Q1 I was pushing quite hard but didn’t feel competitive. We made a couple of changes on the car balance and set-up to try and gain some front grip. We improved a lot and we also went for a good tow as the data showed it was very important. Norbi had some issues, so we decided to go behind Yann as he was the man to beat. I put in a mega lap and gained three or four-tenths thanks to this. I pushed to the limit getting close to the walls and it paid off. To take the pole with 40kg of Compensation Weight was unexpected. This has been the qualifying of the year so far!”
Yann Ehrlacher, 2nd: “I’m super-happy with P2 in qualifying with 30kg of Compensation Weight. I did a good lap, going to the limit as I always do here as I like this place. Tomorrow we have two joker laps to try something and attack Mikel. I think bringing back the joker lap was a good idea and even to have two, because here overtaking is nearly impossible. It’s good for the fans and for us, as it brings excitement and it’s not just queuing in a race for 30 minutes. With the joker lap it’s easy to do a mistake, so it will be interesting and I hope it will provide a good show.”
Ma Qing Hua, 3rd: “That was a tough qualifying session. In Q1 my pace was good, and the track conditions were a bit different as expected. I was struggling set-up wise in Q2; mine it was a good lap, but not perfect, it could have been better. I think we did a good job with P2 and P3, now we have a good chance because our race pace is good.”
Sunday schedule
12:00 - Race 1 (14 laps)
17:05 - Race 2 (14 laps)
All times local (CEST -1)
Qualifying
1:59.125 – Mikel Azcona (BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse, Hyundai Elantra N EV)
1:59.171 – Yann Ehrlacher (Geely Cyan Racing, Geely Preface)
1:59.344 – Ma Qing Hua (Geely Cyan Racing, Geely Preface)
Championship points
- M. Azcona, 191 pts.; 2. S. Urrutia, 188; 2. N. Michelisz, 150 ...
