Belgian Gilles Magnus has been the fastest driver in the WTCR classification at MotorLand and will start in the first position in the weekend’s main race in Alcañiz. The Comtoyou Racing driver has posted a time of 2:05.485, a record that has allowed him lead the double of the German firm and the Belgian team, since Nathanaël Berthon was second. After a great classification, Rob Huff finished third. Because of the WTCR’s inverted grid concept, the Chinese Ma Qing Hua will start first in the second race.
The qualifying session started with a Q1 that passed without incident, with a small scare from Néstor Girolami as the only unusual action. This allowed drivers and teams to narrow down their chances of being among the top 12. Three of the four Honda riders failed, weighed down by the compensation weights. Mehdi Bennani and Tom Coronel were also left out in a Q1 in which Gilles Magnus was the fastest with the Audi. The Belgian pilot signed a time of 2:05.909 to beat Santiago Urrutia.
Q2 had a similar scriptsince it also ran with a script free of mishaps. Rob Huff was the fastest driver on this occasion after signing a time of 2:05.783. The driver from Zengö led the way to Q3 with the CUPRA León Competición, as the Briton led Gilles Magnus by one tenth. The other three tickets for the final round went to Yvan Muller, Yann Ehrlacher and Nathanaël Berthon. Mikel Azcona finished eighth and will start third in the race with an inverted grid, a heat in which Ma Qing Hua will start first when he is tenth.
The decisive Q3 was forged over a slow fire, a phrase that can be applied to a qualifying session that has been played under a scorching sun. It seemed at first that Nathanaël Berthon was going to stay on pole after signing a great flying lap, but the Frenchman was left with honey on his lips at the push of his teammate. After starting last in Q3, Gilles Magnus has scored pole after setting a time of 2:05.485 with the Audi RS 3 LMS TCR.
The difference between Gilles Magnus and Nathanaël Berthon was two tenths, but three almost remained Rob Huff. The superiority of the Audi RS 3 LMS TCR was made clear by this result, especially since none of the Lynk & Co drivers present in Q3 could do anything. Yann Ehrlacher finished fourth after missing one of the braking points on his lapwhile his uncle Yvan Muller had to settle for fifth position heading into the weekend’s main race.
2022 WTCR Classification Results at MotorLand Aragón Circuit
Photos: FIA WTCR