Inclement weather and a couple of incidents troubled WTCR’s first Qualifying at the Nürburgring.
Esteban Guerrieri was smart and lucky enough to set a decent lap time before Mikel Azcona’s crash on the Nordschleife resulted in a long period of yellow flag in sector 4.
When the Spaniard’s car was moved to a safer place and the full-green was given, only four minutes were left on the clock. The field hurried up to the track, but a sudden shower caused a number of drivers making mistakes until Frédéric Vervisch crashed and the session was red-flagged for good.
Guerrieri’s pole position time of 10:30.955 was more than one minute and-a-half slower than the best lap clocked by Johan Kristoffersson on a dry track in free practice. Norbert Michelisz was second fastest, six seconds slower than the Argentine whose fellow countryman and teammate Néstor Girolami secured the third spot on the grid for Race 1.
Vervisch, Thed Björk, Yvan Muller, Jean-Karl Vernay, Yann Ehrlacher, Rob Huff and Benjamin Leuchter rounded off the top ten. They were followed by Gabriele Tarquini, Kristoffersson, Nicky Catsburg and guest driver Antti Buri.
Niels Langeveld was the only competitor who missed the session after he damaged his car in a crash at the end of the second Practice.
The second Qualifying that will determine the grids for Race 2 and Race 3 will begin this evening at 19:30 local time (CET).
Race 1 will start tomorrow at 17:30 local time (CET).
Qualifying 1
- 10:30.955 – Esteban Guerrieri (Münnich Motorsport, Honda Civic FK7)
- 10:36.987 – Norbert Michelisz (BRC Squadra Corse, Hyundai i30 N)
- 10:37.143 – Néstor Girolami (Münnich Motorsport, Honda Civic FK7)
- 10:38.360 – Frédéric Vervisch (Comtoyou Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS)
- 10:39.087 – Thed Björk (Cyan Racing, Lynk&Co 03)
Championship points
- Esteban Guerrieri 166 pts
- Thed Björk 151
- Néstor Girolami 138