Néstor Girolami claims pole as Thed Björk crashes out of Pau-Ville qualifying

Münnich Motorsport driver Néstor Girolami made the most of an incident-packed and red flagged qualifying session to claim the first pole position of the 2022 WTCR season at Pau-Ville.

Several drivers kissed the barriers, with Hyundai’s Mikel Azcona ruining his second attempt due to contact with the wall in the last sector, and Cyan Racing’s Yann Ehrlacher returning to the pits with the left side of his Lynk & Co damaged in Q1.

Thed Björk hit the barriers hard three minutes into the Q2, sustaining heavy damage to his Lynk & Co 03 TCR and damaged the barriers. The Swede was narrowly avoided by team-mates Santiago Urrutia and Ma Qing Hua right after the incident.

The session was stopped for nearly an hour to repair the barriers, with Björk escaping shaken but unhurt.

BRC Motorsport’s Michelisz touched the barriers just as the Q2 session resumed, managing to continue on his own power to return to the pits, causing a full course yellow because of debris on the track. The Hungarian was able to resume the session after light repairs.

Münnich Motorsport driver Girolami was the second driver to take to the track in the Q3, pulling a tidy lap aboard his Honda Civic Type R TCR to set a best lap time of 1:19.783, with team-mate Esteban Guerrieri in second place, 0.154 seconds behind.

Cyan Racing’s Yvan Muller started his Q3 attempt well, but dropped in the final sector to finish in third place, ahead of Comtoyou Racing’s Nathanael Berthon. Ma Qing Hua finished fifth.

Ehrlacher improved his lap time on his last attempt, but it wasn’t enough to secure going through to Q3, with the reigning champion finishing in sixth place, followed by manufacturer colleague Urrutia in seventh.

Hyundai driver Azcona pushed hard but could only manage eighth, followed by Engstler Motorsport’s Attila Tassi (Honda) and Michelisz in tenth place.

Comtoyou Racing’s Gilles Magnus was left frustrated after finishing 11th, a position he will start from in both races, with Björk in 12th place, the only driver without a valid lap time.

Zengo Motorsport’s Rob Huff was 13th, despite improving his personal best during his last attempt in Q1.

Mehdi Bennani (Audi RS 3 LMS) followed, with Engstler Motorsport driver Tiago Monteiro in 15th place.

Tom Coronel could only manage 16th place, ahead of Dániel Nagy with the second Cupra of Zengo Motorsport. Local wildcard Eric Cayrolle (Audi RS 3 LMS) was 18th and last.

“I want to congratulate the team, who did a fantastic job,” said Girolami after the session. “We put everything together, the car felt amazing during the free practice. In Q3 the track was getting colder and the lap times were improving. We are happy to claim the first pole position of the year and I hope we keep the momentum for tomorrow.”

Race 1 of the WTCR is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 13:10 CEST.