BRC Racing’s Norbert Michelisz secured pole position for the first race of his home round of the FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) at the Hungaroring, ahead of Münnich Motorsport’s Esteban Guerrieri.
Michelisz posted a new TCR qualifying lap record around the Hungaroring as he went even faster than he had in first practice, beating the leading Honda of Guerrieri to pole position with his first flying lap.
Guerrieri, who had to contend with losing his best time due to track limit exceedances early on in the session, rose up to second in the final minutes, ending up 0.256 seconds behind Michelisz.
YMR’s Thed Björk was third fastest, despite clipping the tyres at Turn 7, ahead of fellow Hyundai racer but rival BRC Racing Team driver Gabriele Tarquini in fourth.
Benjamin Lessennes was perhaps the biggest improver in the session compared to practice, posting the fifth fastest time in his Boutsen Ginion Racing Honda, edging out Münnich Motorsport’s Yann Ehrlacher by less than a tenth of a second.
The second YMR Hyundai of Yvan Muller was seventh, ahead of M1RA’s wildcard entry for Dániel Nagy in eighth, meaning that all five of the South Korean cars made it into the top eight places on the grid.
The British duo of Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Rob Huff and Münnich Motorsport’s James Thompson completed the top ten, the latter just over a second off the pace.
The session required a brief full-course yellow when Campos Racing’s John Filippi also clipped the tyres at Turn 7, leaving debris and a tyre carcass on the circuit.
The first WTCR race from the Hungaroring takes place at 15:25 CEST (14:25 BST) and will be broadcast live on Facebook.
Q1 results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 8 | 1:52.644 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 10 | 1:52.900 | 0.256 |
| 3 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
YMR | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 10 | 1:53.063 | 0.419 |
| 4 | 30 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 1:53.088 | 0.444 |
| 5 | 63 | Benjamin LESSENNES |  |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 11 | 1:53.152 | 0.508 |
| 6 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 12 | 1:53.213 | 0.569 |
| 7 | 48 | Yvan MULLER | |
YMR | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 1:53.315 | 0.671 |
| 8 | 99 | Dániel NAGY | |
M1RA | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 1:53.487 | 0.843 |
| 9 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 12 | 1:53.601 | 0.957 |
| 10 | 15 | James THOMPSON | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 11 | 1:53.736 | 1.092 |
| 11 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY | |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 10 | 1:53.900 | 1.256 |
| 12 | 9 | Tom CORONEL |  |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 12 | 1:54.144 | 1.500 |
| 13 | 23 | Nathanaël BERTHON | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 10 | 1:54.174 | 1.530 |
| 14 | 25 | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 12 | 1:54.319 | 1.675 |
| 15 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 10 | 1:54.379 | 1.735 |
| 16 | 27 | John FILIPPI | |
Team Oscaro by Campos Racing | CUPRA TCR | 8 | 1:54.387 | 1.743 |
| 17 | 8 | Norbert NAGY | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 12 | 1:54.474 | 1.830 |
| 18 | 88 | Fabrizio GIOVANARDI | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 11 | 1:54.476 | 1.832 |
| 19 | 7 | Aurélien COMTE | |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 8 | 1:54.573 | 1.929 |
| 20 | 10 | Gianni MORBIDELLI | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 10 | 1:54.596 | 1.952 |
| 21 | 19 | Attila TASSI | |
KCMG | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 12 | 1:54.749 | 2.105 |
| 22 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Team Oscaro by Campos Racing | CUPRA TCR | 11 | 1:54.900 | 2.256 |
| 23 | 21 | Aurélien PANIS | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 12 | 1:55.017 | 2.373 |
| 24 | 22 | Frédéric VERVISCH | |
Audi Sport Team Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS | 12 | 1:55.101 | 2.457 |
| 25 | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 11 | 1:55.323 | 2.679 |
| 26 | 20 | Denis DUPONT | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 12 | 1:55.524 | 2.880 |
| 27 | 66 | Zsolt Dávid SZABÓ | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 11 | 1:55.703 | 3.059 |