Esteban Guerrieri won the first pole position of the season for WTCR; the Argentine, driving a Münnich Motorsport Honda Civic jumped on top of the timesheet halfway through the session with a lap of 1:24.773.
None of the others was able to complete a lap in less than 1:25 in what was a very close session, with the first 13 cars covered by less than five tenths and the first 21 within nine tenths.
Yvan Muller and Thed Björk qualified second and third in the Cyan Racing Lynk&Co cars, which was an impressive result for the Chinese manufacturer’s first appearance in a racing event. Muller posted a 1:25.012 in the first part of the session, then sat in the pit for most of the second half after breaking the oil sump over a kerb, while Björk moved up to third with a lap of 1:25.049.
Guerrieri’s teammate Néstor Girolami qualified fourth (1:25.109) followed by Andy Priaulx in another Lynk&Co car (1:25.138), Gabriele Tarquini in the fastest Hyundai (1:25.174) and Jean-Karl Vernay, the best of the Audi drivers (1:25.177) who was stopped by a puncture while he set to improve on his last lap. Tiago Monteiro ranked eighth ahead of Yann Ehrlacher and Daniel Haglöff’s CUPRA.
Kevin Ceccon was 11th in the first Alfa Romeo and Rob Huff 16th in the best Volkswagen.
The first race will start at 16:50 local time (17:50 CET) on the distance of 18 laps.
Qualifying 1
1. 1:24.773 – Esteban Guerrieri (Münnich Motorsport, Honda Civic FK7)
2. 1:25.012 – Yvan Muller (Cyan Racing, Lynk&Co 03)
3. 1:25.049 – Thed Björk (Cyan Racing, Lynk&Co 03)
4. 1:25.109 – Néstor Girolami (Münnich Motorsport, Honda Civic FK7)
5. 1:25.138 – Andy Priaulx (Cyan Racing, Lynk&Co 03)
Championship points
1. Guerrieri 5 pts
2. Muller 4
3. Björk 3