Gabriele Tarquini wrestled pole position from the sister BRC Racing Team Hyundai i30 N TCR of Norbert Michelisz ahead of the opening FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) contest in Slovakia.
Tarquini – who improved in the dying embers to a 2:09.312s around the 3.6 mile circuit, and again lowered the lap record for TCR machinery – edged out Michelisz by three tenths of a second.
Half a second splits the top two from the YMR-run Hyundai of current championship leader Yvan Muller.
Courtesy of his tenth-placed finish, Muller’s newphew Yann Ehrlacher will start the second race from pole position after the reverse grid is applied.
Aurelien Comte (Peugeot 308) and Pepe Oriola (CUPRA) were split by just a tenth of a second in their pursuit of fourth and fifth respectively, with Esteban Guerrieri putting in a weekend-best showing so far to sixth.
Reigning WTCC Champion Thed Bjork qualified seventh on the road in the sister YMR car, but will take a grid penalty for changing his engine without force majeuere and start at the very back.
Jean-Karl Vernay was again the leading WRT-run Audi RS 3 LMS in eighth, though team-mate Gordon Shedden again struggled and could only manage 20th minus a trip through the gravel at Turn 6.
Tom Coronel finally enjoyed a drama-free session to run ninth in the Boutsen Ginion-run Honda Civic Type R, with Ehrlacher rounding out the top ten.
Local hero Mat’o Homola managed 11th, with the leading Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR of Fabrizio Giovanardi also struggling to 15th.
Frustration continues at Sebastien Loeb Racing, with Rob Huff 23rd and team-mate Medhi Bennani just behind.
The opening race of the weekend gets underway at 11:00 BST tomorrow [14th July].
UPDATE – Norbert Michelisz, Yvan Muller and Thed Björk were later excluded from the qualifying results for having not respected the maximum boost pressure published in the BoP chart for the event.
Amended qualifying result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 30 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 6 | 2:09.312 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 7 | Aurélien COMTE |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 9 | 2:10.326 | 1.014 |
| 3 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Team Oscaro by Campos Racing | CUPRA TCR | 9 | 2:10.475 | 1.163 |
| 4 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 8 | 2:10.487 | 1.175 |
| 5 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY | |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 10 | 2:10.565 | 1.253 |
| 6 | 9 | Tom CORONEL |  |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 7 | 2:10.752 | 1.440 |
| 7 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 9 | 2:10.870 | 1.558 |
| 8 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 11 | 2:11.030 | 1.718 |
| 9 | 21 | Aurélien PANIS | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 10 | 2:11.170 | 1.858 |
| 10 | 20 | Denis DUPONT |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 6 | 2:11.199 | 1.887 |
| 11 | 23 | Nathanaël BERTHON | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 9 | 2:11.230 | 1.918 |
| 12 | 88 | Fabrizio GIOVANARDI | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 10 | 2:11.284 | 1.972 |
| 13 | 63 | Benjamin LESSENNES | |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 10 | 2:11.368 | 2.056 |
| 14 | 22 | Frédéric VERVISCH | |
Audi Sport Team Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS | 9 | 2:11.414 | 2.102 |
| 15 | 8 | Norbert NAGY |  |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 10 | 2:11.514 | 2.202 |
| 16 | 44 | Petr FULÍN |  |
Fullin Race Academy | CUPRA TCR | 10 | 2:11.516 | 2.204 |
| 17 | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN |  |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 9 | 2:11.646 | 2.334 |
| 18 | 31 | Kevin CECCON | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 10 | 2:11.676 | 2.364 |
| 19 | 66 | Zsolt Dávid SZABÓ | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 10 | 2:11.808 | 2.496 |
| 20 | 12 | Rob HUFF | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 9 | 2:11.843 | 2.531 |
| 21 | 25 | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 9 | 2:12.366 | 3.054 |
| 22 | 17 | Andrej STUDENIČ | |
Brutal Fish Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 2:13.529 | 4.217 |
| 23 | 27 | John FILIPPI | |
Team Oscaro by Campos Racing | CUPRA TCR | 1 | No time | N/A |
| EX | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ | |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 6 | 2:09.664 | 0.352 |
| EX | 48 | Yvan MULLER | |
YMR | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 9 | 2:10.281 | 0.969 |
| EX | 11 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
YMR | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 7 | 2:10.552 | 1.240 |