Target Competition’s Josh Files put his Hyundai i30 N TCR in pole position for the opening TCR Europe race at Hockenheim this afternoon after a hard-fought session.
Both Files and nearest rival Gilles Magnus set personal bests on their final flying laps around the 2.8-mile Baden-Wurttemberg circuit, but Magnus’ Audi went off into the gravel at Turn 13, meaning the former’s benchmark of 1m47.095 kept him in top spot.
The Belgian will console himself with a golden opportunity to take the championship lead in the opening race later today, with the other joint-championship leader Nelson Panciatici stuck down in P21 after falling foul of track limits on a few occasions.
A late improvement for Luca Englster put him third for Hungarian outfit M1RA, whilst further back a host of star names – Tom Coronel, Daniel Nagy, Dusan Borkovic and Davit Kajaia were all casualties of the knockout format in Q1.
Q1
With Englster surpassing Santiago Urrutia’s benchmark time from both free practice sessions on his first flying effort, it became clear from the off that prior form this weekend would play no great factor in deciding the outcome in qualifying.
A number of household names found themselves in trouble after the first set of flying laps, among them Coronel, the returning Stian Paulsen, Kajaia, another newcomer in Dan Lloyd and ex-Formula 1 racer Gianni Morbidelli.
TCR UK race-winner Andreas Backman, Magnus and the DG Sport Peugeot of Julien Briche would all enjoy a stint atop the timesheets after Englster, the new target for the rest to beat a 1:47.177.
The session was halted with three minutes left to run after Martin Ryba went off in the Brutal Fish-run Honda Civic Type R FK7 at Turn 1.
When it resumed, the majority of the top six – Briche, Magnus, A.Backman, Englster and Files – all elected to remain in their pit boxes, with only Lloyd heading back out in search of an improvement.
That duly arrived for the inaugural TCR UK champion right at the last, with the Brit posting a 1:47.159 to take the bragging rights into Q2.
Behind that group, however, several late improvements changed the composition of the top twelve heading through to battle it out for pole position.
Mat’o Homola, Aurelien Comte and Luca Filippi all improved to push Paulsen out of the top twelve, whilst Magnus will have a golden opportunity to take an outright championship lead in the opening race after chief rival Nelson Panciatici could only manage P21 after falling foul of track limits.
Making it through to duke it out for top spot were Lloyd, Briche, Magnus, both Backmans, Englster, Urrutia, Files, Filippi, Homola, Potty and Comte.
Q2
The strength in depth of this season’s TCR Europe field was highlighted in this session, with five different brands making it through to Q2 and just 0.6s between the top 11 at the end.
Files set the tone with his initial effort, the 1:47.095 that would eventually prove enough for pole position, though it wasn’t quite that straightforward with Magnus just 0.010s behind in second.
In some respects, the pair mirrored one another, pitting after a single flying lap apiece for fresh tyres, with A.Backman, Filippi and Englster doing likewise.
Some of those that opted to stay out – Lloyd, Potty, Comte and Homola, the latter crucially occupying tenth and therefore in position for reverse-grid pole tomorrow, returned to the pit lane first and waited to see if their contemporaries could post any improvements.
Though Files and Magnus would post personal bests in the first sector on their final efforts, a trip to the gravel at T13 for Magnus’ Audi rendered the battle nul and void, meaning Files takes a first pole of 2019.
Englster’s late effort was good enough for P3, with Potty’s Volkswagen Golf alongside. A.Backman and Comte’s Peugeot share row three.
Practice pace-setter Urrutia was seventh ahead of experienced TCR campaigner Lloyd in eighth. Homola was eventually usurped for tenth by Briche, and with Jessica Backman in ninth those two will share the front row for Race 2 on Sunday.
Homola was duly 11th ahead of Filippi.
The opening TCR Europe race of the weekend from Hockenheim is scheduled to get underway at 13:40 BST.
Q2 results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 9 | Josh FILES |  |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 6 | 1:47.095 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 16 | Gilles MAGNUS |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 5 | 1:47.105 | 0.010 |
| 3 | 8 | Luca ENGSTLER |  |
M1RA Motorsport | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 6 | 1:47.135 | 0.040 |
| 4 | 88 | Maxime POTTY | |
Team WRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 4 | 1:47.187 | 0.092 |
| 5 | 19 | Andreas BÄCKMAN |  |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 6 | 1:47.271 | 0.176 |
| 6 | 7 | Aurélien COMTE |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 4 | 1:47.285 | 0.190 |
| 7 | 55 | Santiago URRUTIA |  |
Team WRT | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 5 | 1:47.398 | 0.303 |
| 8 | 123 | Daniel LLOYD | |
Brutal Fish Racing Team | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 3 | 1:47.450 | 0.355 |
| 9 | 26 | Jessica BÄCKMAN | |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 6 | 1:47.487 | 0.392 |
| 10 | 24 | Julien BRICHÉ | |
JSB Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 5 | 1:47.722 | 0.627 |
| 11 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 3 | 1:47.754 | 0.659 |
| 12 | 30 | Luca FILIPPI |  |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 6 | 1:48.535 | 1.440 |
Q1 results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 123 | Daniel LLOYD | |
Brutal Fish Racing Team | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 11 | 1:47.159 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 24 | Julien BRICHÉ | |
JSB Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 6 | 1:47.177 | 0.018 |
| 3 | 16 | Gilles MAGNUS | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 6 | 1:47.205 | 0.046 |
| 4 | 19 | Andreas BÄCKMAN | |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 6 | 1:47.340 | 0.181 |
| 5 | 8 | Luca ENGSTLER | |
M1RA Motorsport | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 3 | 1:47.381 | 0.222 |
| 6 | 26 | Jessica BÄCKMAN | |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 1:47.414 | 0.255 |
| 7 | 55 | Santiago URRUTIA | |
Team WRT | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 10 | 1:47.419 | 0.260 |
| 8 | 9 | Josh FILES | |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 6 | 1:47.429 | 0.270 |
| 9 | 30 | Luca FILIPPI | |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 10 | 1:47.505 | 0.346 |
| 10 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA | |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 1:47.550 | 0.391 |
| 11 | 88 | Maxime POTTY | |
Team WRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 8 | 1:47.568 | 0.409 |
| 12 | 7 | Aurélien COMTE | |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 11 | 1:47.597 | 0.438 |
| 13 | 34 | Stian PAULSEN |  |
Stian Paulsen Racing | CUPRA TCR | 10 | 1:47.614 | 0.455 |
| 14 | 62 | Dušan BORKOVIĆ |  |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 10 | 1:47.664 | 0.505 |
| 15 | 45 | Gianni MORBIDELLI | |
WestCoast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 1:47.825 | 0.666 |
| 16 | 112 | Jimmy CLAIRET | |
Team Clairet Sport | Peugeot 308 TCR | 10 | 1:47.859 | 0.700 |
| 17 | 111 | Teddy CLAIRET | |
Team Clairet Sport | Peugeot 308 TCR | 10 | 1:47.868 | 0.709 |
| 18 | 99 | Dániel NAGY |  |
M1RA Motorsport | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 9 | 1:48.069 | 0.910 |
| 19 | 44 | Lilou WADOUX | |
JSB Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 8 | 1:48.091 | 0.932 |
| 20 | 27 | John FILIPPI | |
Vuković Motorsport | Renault Mégane RS TCR | 10 | 1:48.330 | 1.171 |
| 21 | 50 | Tom CORONEL |  |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 9 | 1:48.383 | 1.224 |
| 22 | 96 | Abdulla Ali AL-KHELAIFI |  |
QMMF Racing by PCR Sport | CUPRA TCR | 11 | 1:48.396 | 1.237 |
| 23 | 12 | Nelson PANCIATICI | |
M Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 9 | 1:48.595 | 1.436 |
| 24 | 23 | Tamás TENKE | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 11 | 1:48.715 | 1.556 |
| 25 | 46 | Olli KANGAS |  |
WestCoast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 1:48.753 | 1.594 |
| 26 | 10 | Viktor DAVIDOVSKY |  |
PSS Racing Team | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 11 | 1:48.778 | 1.619 |
| 27 | 81 | Stéphane VENTAJA | |
Team Clairet Sport | Peugeot 308 TCR | 11 | 1:48.779 | 1.620 |
| 28 | 3 | Davit KAJAIA |  |
PCR Sport with Georgia | CUPRA TCR | 10 | 1:49.099 | 1.940 |
| 29 | 25 | Natan BIHEL | |
M Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 9 | 1:49.754 | 2.595 |
| 30 | 5 | Alex MORGAN | |
Wolf-Power Racing | Renault Mégane RS TCR | 7 | 1:49.900 | 2.741 |
| 31 | 17 | Martin RYBA | |
Brutal Fish Racing Team | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 7 | 1:49.924 | 2.765 |
| 32 | 21 | Marie BAUS-COPPENS | |
JSB Compétition | CUPRA TCR | 8 | 1:50.211 | 3.052 |