Magnus to start from pole in TCR Europe at Spa
At Spa-Francorchamps, young Belgian driver Gilles Magnus drove his Comtoyou Racing Audi RS 3 LMS to set pole position on his and the team’s home track. Magnus set the fastest lap of 2:28.885 and beat by 65 thousandths Santiago Urrutia who completed an all-Audi front row for this afternoon’s Race 1.
It was a festival for the Belgian outfits, as Team WRT also placed the Volkswagen Golf GTI cars of Maxime Potty and Ashley Sutton in fourth and fifth positions.
The Qualifying session was full of drama, with two crashes in Q1 and the mystery of Daniel Lloyd’s car that joined Q2 although he had set the 18th fastest lap in Q1. Mystery that was clarified at the end of the session when the timekeepers found out that Lloyd had posted a time good enough to make the top-12, but only a few seconds after the red flag was waved. Despite he was not listed as one of the drivers eligible for Q2, the Brutal Fish Racing released him on the track. Now the matter is being discussed by the Stewards.
Q1 – Urrutia fastest as Teddy Clairet and Files crash.
Maxime Potty was the fastest from the very start as he first posted a provisional best time of 2:31.172 and then improved to 2:29.424. Santiago Urrutia (2:29.930) and Gilles Magnus (2:29.823) where the only other drivers capable of completing a lap in the 2:29s.
The Q1 part of session was disrupted by the red flag with nine minutes on the clock, when Teddy Clairet crashed at the Raidillon; he was fourth fastest at the time of the incident.
When the session resumed, Urrutia improved the fastest lap to an impressive 2:28.994, while Aurélien Comte, Ashley Sutton, Dušan Borković and Mat’o Homola managed to squeeze among the top 12 just before the red flag was waved again when Josh Files crashed at the Raidillon just before the end of twenty minutes expired. The championship leader was trying to post a valid lap after being stripped of a 2:30.199 for track limits that would have placed him in 7th position.
The following drivers advanced to Q2: Urrutia, Potty, Magnus, Comte, Briché, Sutton, T. Clairet, Borković, Homola, Kajaia, A. Bäckman and J. Clairet.
Q2 – Magnus and Urrutia make an all-Audi front row
While the Team Clairet Sport was trying to fix Teddy’s car, Lloyd joined despite is was not on the list of the eligible drivers. Urrutia posted a provisional fastest lap of 2:28.950 that was beaten by Magnus’ 2:28.885. Lloyd set the third fastest lap of 2:29.209, but his result is under investigation.
Race 1 will start this afternoon at 13:50; live streaming at www.tcr-series.com and www.tcr-series.tv.
Qualifying
1. 2:28.885 – Gilles Magnus (Comtoyou Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS)
2. 2:28.950 – Santiago Urrutia (Team WRT, Audi RS 3 LMS)
3. 2:29.209 – Daniel Lloyd (Brutal Fish Racing Team, Honda Civic FK7) *
4. 2:29.793 – Maxime Potty (Team WRT, Volkswagen Golf GTI)
5. 2:29.829 – Ashley Sutton (Team WRT, Volkswagen Golf GTI)
* under investigation
Championship points
1. Files 112 pts; 2. Briché 107; 3. Magnus 94
