Jean-Karl Vernay wins pole position at Queensland

Audi guest driver Jean-Karl Vernay has hit the first target for his flying Australian visit by claiming pole position for TCR Australia Series Race 1 at Queensland Raceway.
The Frenchman only landed Down Under on Thursday, but was quickly into stride, triumphing in a four-way fight for top slot on the grid. He hustled his Audi RS 3 LMS to a best time of 1:12.9418 as the top seven qualifiers were covered by just two-tenths of a second.
John Martin finished second by just 0.0060 of a second in his Honda Civic Type R with championship leader Will Brown third in his Hyundai i30 N, just 0.0479 behind Vernay.
“We’re on pole and that was the target. Now we need to improve the car for the race,” said Vernay.
Martin qualified in second position and commented: “I thought we would be on the second row so this is a good result. I was right on the limit. I hope I’m going to lead into Turn 1, that’s the plan, and then I’ll be driving the widest Honda you’ve ever seen.”
Brown admitted a mistake on his quickest lap but was happy to run third. “My car was good. I was a bit wide in the last corner and it cost me a tenth. But it’s going to be a dogfight in the race. We won’t let the Frenchy beat us.”
But Vernay has bad news for the pursuing pack, as he believes there is still 3-4 tenths left in his Audi in qualifying trim, and he is prepared with extra tweaking to ensure the car is kind to its Michelin tyres through the 30-minute sprint.
The battle for pole was the most torrid qualifying yet in the TCR Australia series, with Martin, Brown and Dylan O’Keefe all taking a turn at the top before Vernay uncorked his final qualifier.
O’Keefe was the early pace-setter in his Alfa Romeo Giulietta but was the loser at the end, as he wound up fourth and just ahead of Russell Ingall in his second guest-star run in an Audi RS3. James Moffat, who’s currently second in the standings behind Brown and ahead of O’Keeffe, qualified his Renault Mégane RS in ninth position, four tenths off the pole.
The first race will start at 12:15 local time (6:15 CET); live streaming at www.tcr-series.com and www.tcr-series.tv.

Qualifying
1:12.9418 Jean-Karl Vernay (Melbourne Performance Centre, Audi RS 3 LMS)
1:12.9478 John Martin (Wall Racing, Honda Civic FK7)
1:12.9897 Will Brown (HMO Customer Racing, Hyundai i30 N)
1:12.9924 Dylan O’Keeffe (Ashley Seward Motorsport, Alfa Romeo Giulietta)
1:13.0536 Russell Ingall (Melbourne Performance Centre, Audi RS 3 LMS)

Championship points
1. Brown 356 pts; 2. James Moffat 231; 3. O’Keeffe 227