Esteban Guerrieri admitted that luck played in his favour in first qualifying for the FIA World Touring Car Cup on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, as he beat the conditions to claim his second pole position of the year.
Guerrieri was a huge six seconds clear of the opposition in a rain-affected session, which saw the only clear lap that drivers were able to complete being on their first runs.
Even then that lap was fraught with difficulties, as a heavy rain shower prior to the session left the 25.4 km Nordschleife soaking wet, creating hugely variable and challenging conditions.
Guerrieri was lucky when a yellow flag prevented drivers from being able to improve their times during the driest spell in the session, before further heavy rain sealed his pole for good.
“It is these intense moments that you live here only on the Nordschleife,” said Guerrieri. “We went into qualifying and we didn’t know what to expect – last year it was raining a little bit in the free practices but it is always different here.
“I managed to just pull the lap only with the feeling, without thinking too much, just understanding where the lines were right, and I pulled this lap and it was really good.
“With a bit of luck there was some guys going off the track and then it started raining afterwards and that sometimes plays in your favour, but before that we needed to do a lap and it was a very nice one.
“I’m really thankful to the team as the Honda Civic worked really well, so I’m very pleased and very, very happy as it’s a very important pole position for me – I’m so pleased.”
Guerrieri is hoping to be able to continue his momentum into the second qualifying session, which takes place at 19:30 CEST (18:30 BST) later on Thursday.
“Today we were also quick in the dry conditions, so it’s all going very well, so let’s try to finish off later in the second qualifying.
“Let’s see what the weather says, and then tomorrow and the day after with the races.”