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Nicky Catsburg leads Hyundai 1-2 in first Slovakiaring qualifying

Nicky Catsburg secured pole position for Sunday’s first FIA World Touring Car Cup race at the Slovakiaring, after beating BRC Racing team-mate Norbert Michelisz to lead a Hyundai 1-2.

Catsburg hit the top of the times with just five minutes remaining whilst the Dutchman was providing a tow to Michelisz, edging out the Hungarian’s time by just 0.028 seconds.

Michelisz failed to improve despite the slipstream and had to settle for second, as Hyundai locked out the top two places in their now 30 kg lighter i30 N, with the compensation weight coming into effect for the first time this year.

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Ma was an impressive third fastest in the Team Mulsanne Alfa Romeo, the Chinese driver being four tenths from pole.

PWR Racing’s Daniel Haglöf was the best CUPRA driver in fourth, at a circuit where the Spanish cars have been performing well on single-lap pace. Tom Coronel was able to put his Comtoyou Racing CUPRA in fifth, easily the Dutchman’s best qualifying performance of the season.

Kevin Ceccon ensured that it was a strong session for Team Mulsanne by putting his Alfa Romeo Giulietta in sixth, eight tenths off the pace.

WRT’s Jean-Karl Vernay was the leading Audi driver in seventh, ahead of the leading Honda of Esteban Guerrieri in eighth.

Comtoyou Racing’s Frédéric Vervisch and SLR’s Mehdi Bennani completed the top ten, the latter comfortably the fastest Volkswagen driver after improving within the final minute of the session.

Points leader Néstor Girolami just missed out on the top ten and was 11th in his Münnich Motorsport Honda, the last driver within a second of the pace in a qualifying session which was dry but threatened rain.

Reigning champion Gabriele Tarquini was just 13th, despite a tow from team-mate Michelisz at a circuit where the Italian has traditionally performed well.

None of the Lynk & Co drivers made the top 15, with Yvan Muller in 18th the best-placed driver for the Swedish-run team’s Chinese car brand.

His team-mates Thed Björk, Yann Ehrlacher and Andy Priaulx propped up the timesheets in 25th, 26th and 27th respectively, around two seconds off the pace.

Wildcard newcomer Luca Engstler was 20th in the slowest of the Hyundais, only a tenth behind BRC Racing’s Augusto Farfus in 19th despite carrying 20 kg more weight than the Brazilian.

Qualifying for Sunday’s second and third races gets underway at 16:40 CEST (15:40 BST) later on Friday.

Qualifying result

POS NO DRIVER NAT ENTRANT CAR LAPS TIME GAP
1 88 Nicky CATSBURG BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team Hyundai i30 N TCR 9 2:09.498 0.000
2 5 Norbert MICHELISZ BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai i30 N TCR 10 2:09.526 0.028
3 55 Ma QING HUA Team Mulsanne Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR 10 2:09.907 0.409
4 37 Daniel HAGLÖF PWR Racing CUPRA TCR 9 2:10.108 0.610
5 50 Tom CORONEL Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing CUPRA TCR 10 2:10.154 0.656
6 31 Kevin CECCON Team Mulsanne Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR 11 2:10.339 0.841
7 69 Jean-Karl VERNAY Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi RS3 LMS TCR 11 2:10.374 0.876
8 86 Esteban GUERRIERI ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type R TCR 10 2:10.382 0.884
9 22 Frédéric VERVISCH Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi RS3 LMS TCR 10 2:10.403 0.905
10 25 Mehdi BENNANI SLR VW Motorsport Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR 11 2:10.430 0.932
11 29 Néstor GIROLAMI ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type R TCR 10 2:10.495 0.997
12 21 Aurélien PANIS Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing CUPRA TCR 9 2:10.511 1.013
13 1 Gabriele TARQUINI BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai i30 N TCR 9 2:10.517 1.019
14 96 Mikel AZCONA PWR Racing CUPRA TCR 10 2:10.544 1.046
15 33 Benjamin LEUCHTER SLR Volkswagen Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR 10 2:10.687 1.189
16 10 Niels LANGEVELD Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi RS3 LMS TCR 9 2:10.746 1.248
17 52 Gordon SHEDDEN Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi RS3 LMS TCR 11 2:10.826 1.328
18 100 Yvan MULLER Cyan Racing Lynk & Co Lynk & Co 03 TCR 7 2:10.944 1.446
19 8 Augusto FARFUS BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team Hyundai i30 N TCR 10 2:10.978 1.480
20 6 Luca ENGSTLER Hyundai Team Engstler Hyundai i30 N TCR 11 2:11.005 1.507
21 18 Tiago MONTEIRO KCMG Honda Civic Type R TCR 10 2:11.081 1.583
22 14 Johan KRISTOFFERSSON SLR Volkswagen Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR 10 2:11.212 1.714
23 9 Attila TASSI KCMG Honda Civic Type R TCR 10 2:11.307 1.809
24 12 Rob HUFF SLR VW Motorsport Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR 9 2:11.345 1.847
25 11 Thed BJÖRK Cyan Racing Lynk & Co Lynk & Co 03 TCR 8 2:11.363 1.865
26 68 Yann EHRLACHER Cyan Performance Lynk & Co Lynk & Co 03 TCR 8 2:11.467 1.969
27 111 Andy PRIAULX Cyan Performance Lynk & Co Lynk & Co 03 TCR 8 2:11.697 2.199
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