Proczyk sets pole and gets one point closer to Engstler

Harald Proczyk placed his HP Racing Opel Astra on pole position for tomorrow’s TCR Germany Race 1 at Hockenheim. This was the first time the Austrian set the fastest lap in Qualifying during the current season and he did it at the right time. In fact, in the final event of the series, he managed to cut one point off his gap from the current leader Luca Engstler, who qualified second in his Hyundai i30 N.
While the two main contenders – who are now split by just four points – will start from the front row, the Racing One Audi RS3 LMS of their rival Niels Langeveld will line up seventh. The Dutchman lies third in the standings, 15 points behind Engstler.
The session began on a wet track and lap times were improved as soon as drivers gained confidence.
In Q1, Mike Halder set the fastest lap of 2:04.998 before the red flag was waved with two minutes left on the clock, with Justin Haussermann’s car stranded onto the gravel at T1.
Langeveld (2:05.420), Pascal Eberle (2:05.430), Engstler (2:05.512), Proczyk (2:05.814), Antti Buri (2:06.005), Benjamin Leuchter (2:06.012), Max Hesse (2:06.085); Luke Wankmüller (2:06.271), Jussi Kuusiniemi (2:06344), Oliver Holdener (2:06.471) and Lukas Niedertscheider (2:06.478) made the top-twelve who advanced to Q2, in cars of seven different brands.
In Q2, Hesse posted a provisional fastest lap of 2:04.641 that was improved first by Leuchter (2:04.467), then by Halder (2:04.125) and finally by Proczyk’s 2:03.473 that was worth the pole position.
The last driver to improve was Engstler, who moved up to second with a lap of 2:04.104.
Holdener qualified his Cupra tenth and secured pole for the top-ten reverse grid of Sunday’s Race 2, with Kusiniemi’s Volkswagen Golf alongside him.  
The weekend’s first race will start tomorrow at 12:10 CET (live streaming at www.tcr-series.tv).