Luca Engstler claims another pole

Team Engstler really made a statement in tonight’s Qualifying at Bahrain International Circuit, as the three Volkswagen Golf GTI cars prepared by the German squad filled the first three spots on the grid of Race 1. Points leader Luca Engstler, in the Liqui Moly-livered VW Golf GTI, took his second pole in this year’s series ahead of Kai Jordan, in the H&R Spezialfeldern-entered car, and the other Liqui Moly driver, Florian Thoma. Engstler will therefore be in an ideal position to clinch the title ahead of the two decisive races tomorrow.
The Qualifying session, though, had seen a strong start of the Pit Lane Competizioni cars, with Giacomo Altoè, Jordi Oriola and Lorenzo Veglia taking the Top-3 in the early stages.  After ten minutes, proceedings were stopped by the red flag to allow rescuing the Golf of Raed Himmo, which ended stuck in the gravel after an off-track.
Immediately after action resumed, Luca Engstler posted his best lap time (1:09.056) that eventually meant the pole position, while Altoè, Thoma, Veglia and Oriola improved their times as well. In the final part of the session, Thoma took provisional second place before being beaten by an excellent Kai Jordan who finished only 0.212 from Engstler.  

Engstler said:“I’m very happy with this pole that I conquered in ‘full attack’ mode. It was a tough session, where I also had a huge spin in my second-fastest lap. It’s not easy to find the right balance on this track, especially when you are carrying 30 kgs of success ballast, but the team did an excellent job. Of course, having my teammates behind me is perfect for tomorrow. I will try to stay cool and focused, and take things lap by lap.”

The two night races that will decide the TCR Middle East Series 2018 title will take place tomorrow Saturday at 19:00 and 21:00 local time respectively.