Gavrilov claims pole position for Race 1 at Fort Groznyi
It took only one lap in Q2 to Klim Gavrilov to secure the pole position for the first race of TCR Russia’s season finale at Fort Groznyi.
The VRC-Team driver had already topped the Q1 part of the session with the time of 1:20.339 and then he improved in Q2, to 1:20.136 on his first lap out. None of the other drivers was able to threaten that time, and Rustam Fatkhutdinov qualified in second position, his best result ever, more than three tenths behind.
The best lap times of the three title contenders were covered by less than two tenths: Kirill Ladygin, Aleksey Dudukalo and Dmitry Bragin will start from sixth, fifth and seventh positions respectively.
In Q1, Fatkhutdinov opened the session with a provisional fastest lap of 1:20.665 that Mikhail Mityaev improved by one thousandth of a second (1:20.664); eventually Gavrilov posted the best lap for good and then Pavel Kalmanovich moved into P2 (1:20.498). All the three title contenders made the cut for Q2, while LUKOIL Racing teammates Ivan Lukashevich and Andrej Maslennikov competed for the last spot; they set the very same lap time of 1:21.153 and so Lukashevich who had clocked it earlier advanced to Q2, while Maslennikov ranked 11th.
In Q2, Gavrilov settled the matter on his first lap and did not even make a second attempt. AG Team’s colleagues Fatkhutdinov and Kalmanovich ranked second and third, with Mityaev fourth.
The two races will be streamed live at www.tcr-series.com tomorrow: Race 1 at 10:55 local time (09:55 CEST), Race 2 at 16:45 local time (15:45 CEST).
Qualifying
1:20.136 Klim Gavrilov (VRC-Team, Hyundai i30 N)
1:20.473 Rustam Fatkhutdinov (AG Team, Audi RS 3 LMS)
1:20.477 Pavel Kalmanovich (AG Team, CUPRA)
1:20.541 Mikhail Mityaev (LADA Sport Rosneft, LADA Vesta Sport)
1:20.599 Aleksey Dudukalo (LUKOIL Racing Team, Audi RS 3 LMS)
Championship points
1. Kirill Ladygin 191 pts; 2. Aleksey Dudukalo 160; 3. Dmitry Bragin 151
Picture: Grigory Golyshev
