Eric Brigliadori sets TCR Italy pole position at Vallelunga

After setting the fastest time in Free Practice 1 and then going second quickest in FP2, Eric Brigliadori, driving a BF Motorsport Audi RS 3 LMS, will start TCR Italy’s Race 1 at Vallelunga from pole position after being fastest in this afternoon’s Qualifying session. Alongside Brigliadori will be the Target Competition Hyundai i30 N of Nicola Baldan, while the CUPRA of the reigning champion Salvatore Tavano and Antti Buri’s Hyundai will start from Row 2.
This was the second consecutive pole position for Brigliadori after that in the season opener Monza; the BF Motorsport youngster leads the standings with a gap of five points over Buri.
When the twenty-five-minute session got underway, the first drivers to set a competitive lap time were Buri (1:42.367), Brigliadori (1:42.848) and Baldan (1:43.106) with both Buri and Baldan improving their times on the next lap. Both were then beaten in quick succession by Evgenii Leonov with a time of 1:41.870 and Kevin Ceccon with a 1:41.166. On Lap 5, Brigliadori went fastest when he lapped in 1:40.951 and Tavano set exactly the same time as Ceccon (1:41.166). 
With just under twelve minutes remaining, the session was red-flagged following an incident involving the Honda Civic of Jonathan Giacon. There was a short delay while the car was recovered, with the session resuming after around five minutes.
A string of drivers improved their times, with Brigliadori setting a 1:40.721 and Tavano going P2 with a 1:40.809. Buri was third fastest (1:40.885) and Michele Imberti’s CUPRA broke into the top four with a lap of 1:41.137. 
With under three minutes remaining, Baldan improved his best time with a 1:40.769 to go second fastest behind Brigliadori and that’s how the session finished. Behind Ceccon, the top ten was completed by Ruben Volt, Mattias Vahtel, Evgenii Leonov and Igor Stefanovski. ALM Racing’s young Estonian drivers Vahtel and Volt will share the front row of the top-eight reversed grid for Race 2.
Live streaming of both races tomorrow at www.tcr-series.com; Race 1, at 11:00 and Race 2 at 15:00 (CEST).

Vallelunga – Qualifying 
1:40.721 Eric Brigliadori (BF Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS)
1:40.769 Nicola Baldan (Target Competition, Hyundai i30 N)
1:40.809 Salvatore Tavano (Scuderia del Girasole, CUPRA Leon Competición)
1:40.885 Antti Buri (Target Competition, Hyundai i30 N)
1:41.137 Michele Imberti (Elite Motorsport, CUPRA Leon Competición)   

Championship points
1. E. Brigliadori 138 pts; 2. A. Buri 133; 3. N. Baldan 126 

Picture: ACI Sport