Magnus and Engstler claim pole positions in FIA Motorsport Games

Germany’s Luca Engstler and Belgium’s Gilles Magnus secured pole positions for races one and two of the FIA Motorsport Games in Vallelunga, Italy, as the weather resulted in two very different qualifying results.

In first qualifying, held on a wet track, it was Engstler who topped the times with a lap of 1 minute 56.941 seconds, edging out Team Russia’s Klim Gavrilov by just over two tenths of a second.

Engstler would, however, suffer from a gearbox issue later in the session, which curtailed his running.

Team Slovakia’s Mat’o Homola was third, also in a Hyundai, ahead of Hong Kong’s Jim Ka to in fourth in the best of the Hondas.

Rory Butcher was an impressive fifth fastest in the still new MG6 TCR, whilst Tom Coronel put Team Netherlands in sixth in the second best Honda.

Second qualifying took place on a dry circuit, with lap times almost 17 seconds faster than earlier in the morning.

Team Belgium’s Magnus emerged as the fastest driver in his Audi, a lap of 1 minute 40.235 seconds putting him on top.

Gavrilov, the day’s best qualifier on average, as again second, making it an Audi 1-2 at the top of the times.

Coronel, easily the most experienced driver in the field, improved on his time earlier in the day to go third, ahead of Homola in fourth.

Team New Zealand’s Faine Kahia was an impressive fifth in his Audi, with Team Sweden’s Jessica Bäckman completing the top six.

First qualifying results

POS	NO	DRIVER	NAT	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	8	Luca ENGSTLER		Team Germany	Hyundai i30 N TCR	7	1:56.941
2	14	Klim GAVRILOV		Team Russia	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	13	1:57.172	0.231
3	70	Mat’o HOMOLA		Team Slovakia	Hyundai i30 N TCR	12	1:57.437	0.496
4	88	JIM Ka To		Team Hong Kong	Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR	11	1:57.621	0.680
5	6	Rory BUTCHER		Team United Kingdom	MG6 TCR	13	1:57.644	0.703
6	33	Tom CORONEL		Team Netherlands	Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR	14	1:57.718	0.777
7	27	John FILIPPI		Team France	CUPRA TCR	13	1:57.804	0.863
8	16	Gilles MAGNUS		Team Belgium	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	13	1:57.977	1.036
9	59	Dušan KOURIL JR		Team Czech Republic	Hyundai i30 N TCR	14	1:58.173	1.232
10	25	Valters ZVIEDRIS		Team Latvia	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	14	1:58.550	1.609
11	15	Norbert KISS		Team Hungary	Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	13	1:58.753	1.812
12	69	Enrico BETTERA		Team Italy	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	12	1:58.855	1.914
13	55	Faine KAHIA		Team New Zealand	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	13	1:59.058	2.117
14	26	Jessica BÄCKMAN		Team Sweden	Hyundai i30 N TCR	13	1:59.235	2.294
15	21	Mason FILIPPI		Team USA	Hyundai i30 N TCR	13	1:59.594	2.653
16	11	Martin DE ANDRES Gonzalo		Team Spain	Peugeot 308 TCR	14	2:00.386	3.445
17	5	Julius ADOMAVICIUS		Team Lithuania	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	13	2:01.101	4.160
18	18	Zhendong ZHANG		Team China	MG6 TCR	14	2:01.127	4.186
19	10	Kristian Moe SÆTHEREN		Team Norway	Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	13	2:01.743	4.802
20	35	Salem ALNUSIF		Team Kuwait	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	13	2:02.881	5.940

Second qualifying results

POS	NO	DRIVER	NAT	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	16	Gilles MAGNUS		Team Belgium	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	16	1:40.235
2	14	Klim GAVRILOV		Team Russia	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	13	1:40.730	0.495
3	33	Tom CORONEL		Team Netherlands	Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR	15	1:41.011	0.776
4	70	Mat’o HOMOLA		Team Slovakia	Hyundai i30 N TCR	15	1:41.213	0.978
5	55	Faine KAHIA		Team New Zealand	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	14	1:41.526	1.291
6	26	Jessica BÄCKMAN		Team Sweden	Hyundai i30 N TCR	13	1:41.604	1.369
7	27	John FILIPPI		Team France	CUPRA TCR	13	1:41.643	1.408
8	88	JIM Ka To		Team Hong Kong	Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR	12	1:41.701	1.466
9	69	Enrico BETTERA		Team Italy	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	14	1:42.407	2.172
10	6	Rory BUTCHER		Team United Kingdom	MG6 TCR	13	1:42.422	2.187
11	21	Mason FILIPPI		Team USA	Hyundai i30 N TCR	15	1:42.467	2.232
12	35	Salem ALNUSIF		Team Kuwait	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	15	1:42.467	2.232
13	59	Dušan KOURIL JR		Team Czech Republic	Hyundai i30 N TCR	14	1:42.658	2.423
14	15	Norbert KISS		Team Hungary	Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	13	1:42.864	2.629
15	10	Kristian Moe SÆTHEREN		Team Norway	Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	16	1:43.069	2.834
16	18	Zhendong ZHANG		Team China	MG6 TCR	15	1:43.349	3.114
17	5	Julius ADOMAVICIUS		Team Lithuania	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	18	1:43.388	3.153
18	25	Valters ZVIEDRIS		Team Latvia	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	15	1:43.688	3.453
19	11	Martin DE ANDRES Gonzalo		Team Spain	Peugeot 308 TCR	4	1:44.150	3.915
20	8	Luca ENGSTLER		Team Germany	Hyundai i30 N TCR	0	No time	N/A