Guerrieri leads a Honda 1-2-3 in WTCR Qualifying at Estoril

Esteban Guerrieri topped the WTCR Qualifying session at Estoril setting the fastest lap in Q3 and winning pole position for Sunday’s Race 2. Local hero Tiago Monteiro and Néstor Girolami followed Guerrieri to complete an impressive 1-2-3 for the Honda Civic cars, while Jean-Karl Vernay qualified fourth in his Hyundai Elantra N, relegating Attila Tassi to fourth.
The Honda cars’ domination began in Q1, with Guerrieri setting the best lap of 1:44.440, beating Monteiro’s previous fastest time of 1:44.809. Tassi (1:44.616), Girolami (1:44.673) and Monteiro (1:44.736) completed a Honda quartet on top of the time sheet. Norbert Michelisz was the best of the rest in fifth position (1:44.797) ahead of Vernay (1:44.830).
All the four Lynk & Co cars qualified for Q2 with Yann Ehrlacher seventh ahead of Santiago Urrutia and Yvan Muller, while Thed Björk was 12^th, the last to make the cut. The Q2 field was completed by Gabriele Tarquini (11^th) and Luca Engstler (10^th).
None of the CUPRA and Audi cars advanced to Q2. Mikel Azcona was the best of the CUPRA drivers in 13^th, 17 thousandths of a second behind Björk, while Nathanaël Berthon topped the Audi patrol in 14^th.
The Honda four repeated them in Q2, with Monteiro fastest (1:44.485) from Girolami (1:44.551), Tassi (1:44.601) and Guerrieri (1:44.666). Vernay was the only driver not at the wheel of a Civic to advance to Q3, fifth with a lap of 1:44.699.
Tarquini’s last gasp attempt was worth the 10^th fastest lap of 1:45.098 and the pole on the reversed grid for Race 1, ahead of Lynk & Co drivers: Ehrlacher, Muller and Urrutia; Tarquini’s time demoted Engstler to 11^th. 
In Q3, Vernay was the first out of the pit, but after being quick in the first three sectors he made a mistake in sector four. On the contrary, Guerrieri, the next to hit the track, lost a couple of tenths in sector three, but was the fastest of the lot in sector four. Girolami and Monteiro were not able to beat him and had to settle in third and second, one and two tenths behind respectively.
The two races are due to start tomorrow at 12.15 and 15:15 local times (13:15 and 16:15 CEST).

Estoril - Qualifying
1:44.522 Esteban Guerrieri (Münnich Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7)
1:44.639 Tiago Monteiro (Münnich Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7)
1:44.771 Néstor Girolami (Münnich Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7)
1:44.833 Jean-Karl Vernay (Engstler Racing Team, Hyundai Elantra N)
1:44.894 Attila Tassi (Münnich Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7)

Championship points
1. JK. Vernay 41 pts; 2. T. Monteiro 39; 3. N. Girolami 39 

Picture: WTCR/DPPI