Yann Ehrlacher claimed the maiden pole position for the new Geely Preface TCR in qualifying for the FIA TCR World Tour in Valencia, heading Thed Björk and Santiago Urrutia in a Cyan Racing 1-2-3.
Ehrlacher took pole after he and his team-mates locked out the top three spots in both parts of qualifying. The Frenchman ultimately went 0.153 seconds quicker than Björk on his Q2 lap to claim a first pole of 2026 with his lap of 1 minute 17.717 seconds.
BRC Racing’s Mikel Azcona, who was consistently the fastest Hyundai in Friday’s practice, was the best of the rest in fourth, the Spaniard being just over four tenths off the pace.
Norbert Michelisz was directly behind his team-mate in fifth, whilst SP Compétition’s Aurélien Comte was the leading CUPRA in sixth, just over half a second slower than Ehrlacher.
Ma Qing Hua put the fourth Geely in seventh, ahead of the fastest Honda of ALM Motorsport’s Jenson Brickley in eighth.
The top ten was completed by ALM Motorsport’s Sten-Dorian Piirimägi, who was the quickest of the TCR Spain field, and JSB Compétition’s Julien Briché, securing the Hyundai driver pole position for Sunday’s reverse-grid second race.
Viktor Andersson, who had set the pace at the circuit in Friday practice, was only 11th, over a second off the pace, in a disappointing result for the Monlau Motorsport driver, who lost two laps due to exceeding track limits at Turn 1.
Race one is scheduled to get underway at 17:10 CEST (16:10 BST) on Saturday.
Q2 Result
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 168 |  |
Yann EHRLACHER | Geely Cyan Racing | Geely Preface TCR | 6 | 1:17.717 | – |
| 2 | 111 |  |
Thed BJÖRK | Geely Cyan Racing | Geely Preface TCR | 7 | 1:17.870 | 0.153 |
| 3 | 181 |  |
Santiago URRUTIA | Geely Cyan Racing | Geely Preface TCR | 7 | 1:17.903 | 0.186 |
| 4 | 196 |  |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N EV TCR | 6 | 1:17.933 | 0.216 |
| 5 | 105 |  |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N EV TCR | 7 | 1:18.065 | 0.348 |
| 6 | 107 | |
Aurélien COMTE | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 7 | 1:18.306 | 0.589 |
| 7 | 155 |  |
MA Qing Hua | Geely Cyan Racing | Geely Preface TCR | 6 | 1:18.534 | 0.817 |
| 8 | 246 |  |
Jenson BRICKLEY | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 7 | 1:18.580 | 0.863 |
| 9 | 437 |  |
Sten-Dorian PIIRIMÄGI | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 7 | 1:18.594 | 0.877 |
| 10 | 24 | |
Julien BRICHÉ | JSB Compétition | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 6 | 1:18.776 | 1.059 |
| 11 | 10 | |
Viktor ANDERSSON | Monlau Motorsport | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 6 | 1:18.926 | 1.209 |
| 12 | 121 | |
Jimmy CLAIRET | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 4 | 1:19.177 | 1.460 |
Q1 Result
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 168 | |
Yann EHRLACHER | Geely Cyan Racing | Geely Preface TCR | 10 | 1:17.933 | – |
| 2 | 181 | |
Santiago URRUTIA | Geely Cyan Racing | Geely Preface TCR | 6 | 1:18.034 | 0.101 |
| 3 | 111 | |
Thed BJÖRK | Geely Cyan Racing | Geely Preface TCR | 10 | 1:18.131 | 0.198 |
| 4 | 107 | |
Aurélien COMTE | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 9 | 1:18.143 | 0.210 |
| 5 | 196 | |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N EV TCR | 7 | 1:18.155 | 0.222 |
| 6 | 105 | |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N EV TCR | 5 | 1:18.240 | 0.307 |
| 7 | 246 | |
Jenson BRICKLEY | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 11 | 1:18.257 | 0.324 |
| 8 | 437 | |
Sten-Dorian PIIRIMÄGI | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 8 | 1:18.375 | 0.442 |
| 9 | 24 | |
Julien BRICHÉ | JSB Compétition | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 8 | 1:18.436 | 0.503 |
| 10 | 10 | |
Viktor ANDERSSON | Monlau Motorsport | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 9 | 1:18.453 | 0.520 |
| 11 | 155 | |
MA Qing Hua | Geely Cyan Racing | Geely Preface TCR | 9 | 1:18.462 | 0.529 |
| 12 | 121 | |
Jimmy CLAIRET | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 11 | 1:18.689 | 0.756 |
| 13 | 481 | |
Erik ZABALA | Vaque Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 11 | 1:18.853 | 0.920 |
| 14 | 419 |  |
Enzo GIANFRATTI | DSOEM Motorsport | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 11 | 1:19.032 | 1.099 |
| 15 | 145 | |
Raphaël FOURNIER | JSB Compétition | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 9 | 1:19.106 | 1.173 |
| 16 | 472 |  |
Sandro PELATTI | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 8 | 1:19.119 | 1.186 |
| 17 | 441 |  |
René Junker POVLSEN | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 12 | 1:19.335 | 1.402 |
| 18 | 81 | |
Damiano REDUZZI | Trico WRT | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 12 | 1:19.367 | 1.434 |
| 19 | 12 | |
Gabriele COVINI | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 4 | 1:19.408 | 1.475 |
| 20 | 13 |  |
Manuel FERNANDES JR | Vannin Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 9 | 1:19.668 | 1.735 |
| 21 | 15 | |
Luke SARGEANT | Vannin Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 11 | 1:20.215 | 2.282 |
| 22 | 420 |  |
Sebastian QUIRNO | Monlau Motorsport | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 10 | 1:20.362 | 2.429 |
| 23 | 431 | |
Mathieu CASALONGA | Team Clairet Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 12 | 1:20.415 | 2.482 |
| 24 | 405 |  |
Demir ERÖGE | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 12 | 1:20.420 | 2.487 |
| 25 | 411 | |
Busian FONTAN ALCALDE | RX Pro Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 11 | 1:20.675 | 2.742 |
| 26 | 433 | |
Samuel CHALIGNE | Team Clairet Sport | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 11 | 1:20.782 | 2.849 |