Néstor Girolami scored his first pole position on the streets of Macau in qualifying for the FIA TCR World Tour finale, with the BRC Racing driver ahead of points leader Yann Ehrlacher.
Girolami pipped Cyan Racing’s Ehrlacher at the last in Q2, as the Argentine lapped the Circuito da Guia in 2 minutes 28.640 seconds, edging out Ehrlacher by three tenths of a second.
Ehrlacher was the only driver in Q2 to elect not to complete a second run, pitting after his first flying lap. That meant he was unable to respond when Girolami found extra time at the end of the session, although the Frenchman still managed to eke out an additional two-points over team-mate Thed Björk in the title battle by qualifying in second.
Björk was immediately behind in third, but the Swede couldn’t emulate the pole position he scored a year ago and ended up 0.668 seconds from pole.
Norbert Michelisz was fourth in his BRC Racing Hyundai, ahead of the leading Honda of GOAT Racing’s Ignacio Montenegro in fifth, who was immediately ahead of team-mate Esteban Guerrieri in sixth – with the latter having continued to explore the Lisboa escape road in the session after outbraking himself in Q1.
BRC Racing’s Mikel Azcona was seventh, the Spaniard enduring a scrappy run after clipping the barriers on his first run in Q2, ahead of Cyan Racing’s Santiago Urrutia in eighth, the Uruguayan improving in the final seconds of the session.
The top ten was completed by Cyan Racing’s Ma Qing Hua and HMO Customer Racing’s Josh Buchan, giving the latter the reverse-grid pole position for Sunday’s second race, which will also be the 2025 Guia Race.
Evolve Racing’s Lo Sze Ho was 11th in his Hyundai, ahead of the SP Compétition CUPRA of Max Hart, the Irishman being the only Leon driver to get into Q2.
Hart’s more experienced team-mate Aurélien Comte failed to get out of Q1, having been a mere 0.019 seconds shy of the time required to progress, leaving the Frenchman to start from 13th for both races.
GOAT Racing’s Pepe Oriola, competing in Macau for the first time since 2018, was 14th, having clipped the barriers early on in Q1.
TCR Asia guest entry Sean Chang put his Audi in 16th, whilst HMO Customer Racing’s Ryan MacMillan will start from 16th for both races after the Australian having clouted the barriers at Mandarin corner on his sixth lap in Q1, breaking the left-rear suspension on his Hyundai and causing the only red-flag stoppage of the session.
Race one is scheduled to take place at 13:20 local time on Saturday (05:20 GMT, 06:20 CET).
Q2 results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 129 |  |
Néstor GIROLAMI | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 5 | 2:28.640 | – |
| 2 | 168 |  |
Yann EHRLACHER | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 3 | 2:28.947 | 0.307 |
| 3 | 111 |  |
Thed BJÖRK | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 5 | 2:29.308 | 0.668 |
| 4 | 105 |  |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 5 | 2:29.416 | 0.776 |
| 5 | 123 | |
Ignacio MONTENEGRO | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 5 | 2:29.461 | 0.821 |
| 6 | 186 | |
Esteban GUERRIERI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 5 | 2:30.043 | 1.403 |
| 7 | 196 |  |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 5 | 2:30.143 | 1.503 |
| 8 | 112 |  |
Santiago URRUTIA | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 5 | 2:30.714 | 2.074 |
| 9 | 155 |  |
MA Qing Hua | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 5 | 2:30.923 | 2.283 |
| 10 | 30 |  |
Josh BUCHAN | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 5 | 2:30.995 | 2.355 |
| 11 | 281 |  |
LO Sze Ho | Evolve Racing | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 6 | 2:31.100 | 2.460 |
| 12 | 108 |  |
Max HART | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 5 | 2:31.223 | 2.583 |
Q1 results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 196 | |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 10 | 2:28.610 | – |
| 2 | 105 | |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 10 | 2:28.926 | 0.316 |
| 3 | 168 | |
Yann EHRLACHER | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 10 | 2:28.980 | 0.370 |
| 4 | 112 | |
Santiago URRUTIA | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 10 | 2:29.377 | 0.767 |
| 5 | 111 | |
Thed BJÖRK | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 10 | 2:29.559 | 0.949 |
| 6 | 129 | |
Néstor GIROLAMI | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 10 | 2:29.630 | 1.020 |
| 7 | 155 | |
MA Qing Hua | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 11 | 2:29.667 | 1.057 |
| 8 | 186 | |
Esteban GUERRIERI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 10 | 2:30.122 | 1.512 |
| 9 | 30 | |
Josh BUCHAN | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 11 | 2:30.396 | 1.786 |
| 10 | 123 | |
Ignacio MONTENEGRO | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 11 | 2:30.535 | 1.925 |
| 11 | 108 | |
Max HART | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 11 | 2:30.853 | 2.243 |
| 12 | 281 | |
LO Sze Ho | Evolve Racing | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 11 | 2:30.898 | 2.288 |
| 13 | 107 | |
Aurélien COMTE | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 11 | 2:30.917 | 2.307 |
| 14 | 174 | |
Pepe ORIOLA | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 10 | 2:31.341 | 2.731 |
| 15 | 288 |  |
Sean CHANG Chien Shang | RevX Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 10 | 2:32.120 | 3.510 |
| 16 | 5 | |
Ryan MACMILLAN | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 5 | 2:34.959 | 6.349 |
| 17 | 69 | |
Andy LIANG Wenyao | Eurasia Motorsport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 10 | 2:42.963 | 14.353 |