Norbert Michelisz and BRC Racing team-mate Mikel Azcona locked out the front row of the grid in qualifying for the FIA TCR World Tour at Monza, as title contender Esteban Guerrieri failed to get out of Q1.
The Hyundais were on the pace straight out of the box in Q1, with Michelisz setting the early benchmark and treading the top time with team-mate Néstor Girolami.
But it was SP Compétition’s Aurélien Comte who took the top time in Q1, a lap of 1 minute 54.500 seconds, to underline the pace of the CUPRA cars in Italy.
Felipe Fernández made a late improvement in Q1, which dumped ALM Motorsport’s wildcard entry Leonel Pernía down to 13th, where the Argentine champion will start both races.
Two big name drivers failed to progress to Q2 – Cyan Racing’s Ma Qing Hua was only 14th, 1.434 seconds off the pace, whilst GOAT Racing’s Guerrieri tried to improve on his final run but could only manage 15th, despite having topped the second practice session on Friday. The Argentine failed to get a clear run late on and had a lap time deleted earlier in the session, hindering his progress.
He was ahead of GOAT Racing team-mate Marco Butti in 16th, the Italian also a surprising name not to move beyond Q1.
In Q2, Azcona provided a slipstreaming tow for Michelisz on his first run and the Hungarian duly set the benchmark of 1:54.347, which wouldn’t be bettered.
After pitting for a tyre swap, Michelisz then provided a tow to Azcona and Girolami, which allowed Azcona to improve his time but the Spaniard was 0.165 seconds shy of Michelisz, who claimed pole.
Comte was third in the quickest CUPRA, ahead of the best Lynk & Co of Cyan Racing’s Yann Ehrlacher in fourth, despite carrying the maximum 40 kg of compensation weight following his Valencia success last weekend.
His Cyan Racing team-mate Santiago Urrutia was fifth, ahead of ALM Motorsport’s Ruben Volt in sixth as the best of the Hondas in the field.
Cyan Racing’s Thed Björk was seventh, ahead of the second SP Compétition CUPRA of John Filippi in eighth.
The top ten was completed by GOAT Racing’s Ignacio Montenegro and BRC’s Girolami, giving the latter pole position for the reverse-grid second race on Sunday.
MM Motorsport’s wildcard entry Jacopo Cimenes was 11th, ahead of GOAT Racing’s Fernández in 12th, who had gone wide into the gravel on his flying lap.
Race one is scheduled to get underway at 15:10 CEST (14:10 BST).
Q2 Results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 105 |  |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 4 | 1:54.347 | – |
| 2 | 196 |  |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 4 | 1:54.512 | 0.165 |
| 3 | 107 |  |
Aurélien COMTE | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 4 | 1:54.560 | 0.213 |
| 4 | 168 | |
Yann EHRLACHER | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 4 | 1:54.829 | 0.482 |
| 5 | 112 |  |
Santiago URRUTIA | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 4 | 1:54.843 | 0.496 |
| 6 | 27 |  |
Ruben VOLT | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 4 | 1:54.966 | 0.619 |
| 7 | 111 |  |
Thed BJÖRK | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 4 | 1:54.973 | 0.626 |
| 8 | 127 | |
John FILIPPI | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 4 | 1:55.262 | 0.915 |
| 9 | 123 |  |
Ignacio MONTENEGRO | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 3 | 1:55.285 | 0.938 |
| 10 | 129 | |
Néstor GIROLAMI | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 4 | 1:55.388 | 1.041 |
| 11 | 82 |  |
Jacopo CIMENES | MM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 3 | 1:55.392 | 1.045 |
| 12 | 19 | |
Felipe FERNÁNDEZ Gil | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 3 | 1:55.660 | 1.313 |
Q1 results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 107 | |
Aurélien COMTE | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 6 | 1:54.500 | – |
| 2 | 105 | |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 6 | 1:54.760 | 0.260 |
| 3 | 112 | |
Santiago URRUTIA | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 6 | 1:55.089 | 0.589 |
| 4 | 196 | |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 7 | 1:55.133 | 0.633 |
| 5 | 123 | |
Ignacio MONTENEGRO | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 7 | 1:55.167 | 0.667 |
| 6 | 129 | |
Néstor GIROLAMI | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 5 | 1:55.255 | 0.755 |
| 7 | 111 | |
Thed BJÖRK | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 6 | 1:55.266 | 0.766 |
| 8 | 27 | |
Ruben VOLT | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 7 | 1:55.359 | 0.859 |
| 9 | 168 | |
Yann EHRLACHER | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 6 | 1:55.402 | 0.902 |
| 10 | 19 | |
Felipe FERNÁNDEZ Gil | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 7 | 1:55.403 | 0.903 |
| 11 | 127 | |
John FILIPPI | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 7 | 1:55.479 | 0.979 |
| 12 | 82 | |
Jacopo CIMENES | MM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 8 | 1:55.482 | 0.982 |
| 13 | 44 | |
Leonel PERNÍA | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 7 | 1:55.706 | 1.206 |
| 14 | 155 |  |
MA Qing Hua | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 6 | 1:55.934 | 1.434 |
| 15 | 186 | |
Esteban GUERRIERI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 6 | 1:56.029 | 1.529 |
| 16 | 11 | |
Marco BUTTI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 6 | 1:56.559 | 2.059 |
| 17 | 81 | |
Damiano REDUZZI | Team Trico WRT | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 6 | 1:56.644 | 2.144 |
| 18 | 10 | |
Viktor ANDERSSON | MA:GP | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 8 | 1:57.455 | 2.955 |