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Nathanaël Berthon takes maiden WTCR pole at Zolder

Comtoyou Racing’s Nathanael Berthon claimed a maiden pole position in the FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) with the final flying effort of an ultra-competitive session at Circuit Zolder.

The Frenchman’s Audi RS 3 LMS went last in Super Pole and duly delivered, clocking a blistering 1:35.486 to deny Yann Ehrlacher’s Cyan Racing-run Lynk & Co. top spot by just 0.031 seconds.

Ehrlacher had in turn denied Gilles Magnus after the Belgian set the early pace on home turf in the final shootout, but ultimately slipped back to third.

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With points awarded during qualifying, Ehrlacher now also leads the standings early doors ahead of Magnus.

Audi and Lynk & Co. locked out the top five, with Santiago Urrutia leading team mate Yvan Muller in fourth and fifth respectively.

Muller looked on the pace, but a mistake at the first corner on his final run lost the veteran crucial time, and he ended the session a half-second adrift of Berthon’s benchmark.

Tom Coronel was unlucky to be denied a spot in Super Pole, coming up just short in sixth, with Attila Tassi seventh fastest yet again in the leading Münnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type R.

Jean-Karl Vernay made it four different marques inside the top-ten with ninth in the Team Mulsanne Alfa Romeo Giulietta, just behind Thed Bjork in the final of the four Lynk & Co. cars.

Practice pacesetter Nestor Girolami managed tenth-quickest, and will therefore start the partially-reversed opening round of the season from the front.

Row six has a familiar feel to it, with last year’s chief title protagonists – Esteban Guerrieri and reigning WTCR champion Norbert Michelisz – in 11th and 12th respectively.

Hyundai seemed to struggle around the challenging 2.49 Belgian circuit; only Michelisz made it as far as the second session, with BRC Racing team mate Gabriele Tarquini just 15th.

Jack Young will start his international touring car racing debut from 16th in the Vukovic Motorsport-prepared Renault Megane R.S., with Tiago Monteiro another notable result down in 18th.

Sunday hosts a double-header of WTCR action, with the opening race tomorrow set to begin at 09:30 (BST).

Q3 results

POS NO DRIVER NAT ENTRANT CAR LAPS TIME GAP
1 17 Nathanaël BERTHON Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport Audi RS3 LMS TCR 3 1:35.486 0.000
2 68 Yann EHRLACHER Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 03 TCR 3 1:35.517 0.031
3 16 Gilles MAGNUS Comtoyou Racing Audi RS3 LMS TCR 3 1:35.527 0.041
4 12 Santiago URRUTIA Cyan Performance Lynk & Co 03 TCR 3 1:35.880 0.394
5 100 Yvan MULLER Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 03 TCR 3 1:36.069 0.583

Q2 results

POS NO DRIVER NAT ENTRANT CAR LAPS TIME GAP
1 16 Gilles MAGNUS Comtoyou Racing Audi RS3 LMS TCR 6 1:35.480 0.000
2 12 Santiago URRUTIA Cyan Performance Lynk & Co 03 TCR 5 1:35.644 0.164
3 68 Yann EHRLACHER Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 03 TCR 5 1:35.783 0.303
4 100 Yvan MULLER Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 03 TCR 5 1:35.798 0.318
5 17 Nathanaël BERTHON Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport Audi RS3 LMS TCR 5 1:35.895 0.415
6 31 Tom CORONEL Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport Audi RS3 LMS TCR 5 1:35.907 0.427
7 9 Attila TASSI ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR 5 1:35.941 0.461
8 11 Thed BJÖRK Cyan Performance Lynk & Co 03 TCR 5 1:35.993 0.513
9 69 Jean-Karl VERNAY Team Mulsanne Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR 5 1:36.065 0.585
10 29 Néstor GIROLAMI ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR 5 1:36.119 0.639
11 86 Esteban GUERRIERI ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR 5 1:36.301 0.821
12 1 Norbert MICHELISZ BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse Hyundai i30 N TCR 6 1:36.606 1.126

Q1 results

POS NO DRIVER NAT ENTRANT CAR LAPS TIME GAP
1 68 Yann EHRLACHER Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 03 TCR 9 1:35.827 0.000
2 11 Thed BJÖRK Cyan Performance Lynk & Co 03 TCR 9 1:35.952 0.125
3 16 Gilles MAGNUS Comtoyou Racing Audi RS3 LMS TCR 8 1:36.050 0.223
4 100 Yvan MULLER Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 03 TCR 9 1:36.076 0.249
5 31 Tom CORONEL Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport Audi RS3 LMS TCR 9 1:36.176 0.349
6 9 Attila TASSI ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR 9 1:36.218 0.391
7 17 Nathanaël BERTHON Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport Audi RS3 LMS TCR 9 1:36.224 0.397
8 12 Santiago URRUTIA Cyan Performance Lynk & Co 03 TCR 9 1:36.338 0.511
9 86 Esteban GUERRIERI ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR 9 1:36.455 0.628
10 69 Jean-Karl VERNAY Team Mulsanne Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR 9 1:36.506 0.679
11 1 Norbert MICHELISZ BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse Hyundai i30 N TCR 10 1:36.648 0.821
12 29 Néstor GIROLAMI ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR 8 1:36.754 0.927
13 33 Dylan O’KEEFFE Vuković Motorsport Renault Mégane RS TCR 8 1:36.877 1.050
14 88 Nicky CATSBURG Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team Hyundai i30 N TCR 8 1:37.025 1.198
15 30 Gabriele TARQUINI BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse Hyundai i30 N TCR 10 1:37.054 1.227
16 7 Jack YOUNG Vuković Motorsport Renault Mégane RS TCR 8 1:37.062 1.235
17 8 Luca ENGSTLER Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team Hyundai i30 N TCR 9 1:37.172 1.345
18 18 Tiago MONTEIRO ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR 9 1:37.192 1.365
19 25 Luca FILIPPI Team Mulsanne Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR 9 1:37.235 1.408
20 55 Bence BOLDIZS Zengő Motorsport CUPRA Leon Competición 9 1:37.353 1.526
21 96 Mikel AZCONA Zengő Motorsport CUPRA Leon Competición 9 1:37.410 1.583
22 99 Gábor KISMARTY-LECHNER Zengő Motorsport CUPRA Leon Competición 9 1:39.731 3.904
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