Yann Ehrlacher ready for “reasonably aggressive” Vallelunga race

Having headed the Q1 session, Yann Ehrlacher was among the favourites for pole position in the FIA TCR World Tour qualifying at Vallelunga.

The Lynk & Co driver however only managed second place, as Norbert Michelisz beat him right at the flag to clinch the first pole position of the 2024 season.

“We lacked a bit of top speed,” said the Frenchman to TouringCarTimes.

“In the first sector we lose a lot and it’s something we can’t change. We could have optimized the package a little honestly, but at the end of the day I think we can be happy to start from the front row. I led the first session and all of a sudden Norbi found about half a second, it was quite surprising but in the end he did the lap. I gave it everything and it was the best we could achieve in qualifying.”

After a heavy rainfall a wet race is likely, which is causing some concern for Ehrlacher due to the lack of driving in the wet this year.

“We don’t really know what to expect, we did a few laps in mixed conditions in testing on Thursday, but never on properly wet track,” said Ehrlacher.

“Also in winter testing we were lucky with the weather, so I probably haven’t driven in the wet since last year in Australia. Not sure our pace is amazing in the wet because we didn’t work on it, so tyre degradation will be a surprise. We will try to guess the setup and hope that the balance holds until the end of the race.”

Whatever the weather, Ehrlacher plans to be aggressive during the race as he aims to start the season on a high.

“It’s a bit early to focus on points. I will not do anything crazy, but I will take risks. We know how important it is to score points from the start, because I missed out by ten points last year. I will be reasonably aggressive.”