Björk and Cyan Racing on pole at Zandvoort

The Lynk & Co 03s dominated WTCR qualifying in Zandvoort (Netherlands) by taking the first two rows of the grid. It was Thed Björk who was the fastest in completing a lap of the future circuit F1 in 1'44''080 with 73 thousandths ahead of Yvan Muller. Andy Priaulx and Yann Ehrlacher will form the second row of the starting grid for the first of three races this weekend.

Mikel Azcona (Cupra) was the most efficient of the others, finishing more than 7 tenths from the benchmark. The Spaniard preceded Benjamin Leuchter (Volkswagen) and double World RX champion Johan Kristoffersson (Volkswagen). Jean-Karl Vernay (Audi) obtained 9th place between Daniel Haglöf (Cupra) and Mehdi Bennani (Volkswagen).

Aurélien Panis (Cupra) will start in 17th position, three places behind the leader of the Drivers classification Nestor Girolami (Honda).

At the end of qualifying, the order of the starting grid was revised following several penalties. Yann Ehrlacher was penalized 5 places for slowing down Augusto Farfus (Hyundai) during qualifying. Mikel Azcona (Cupra) will be the first to benefit from this sanction. Rob Huff (Volkswagen) will have to start from the back of the grid after an engine change carried out on his Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR. The pilot of the Sébastien Loeb Racing had obtained 15th place on the grid. Nestor Girolami (Honda) received a 5 place penalty for overtaking under a red flag during qualifying. The leader of the Drivers classification who was to start from 13th position will therefore be in 18th place.

WTCR officials have adjusted the Balance of Performance to the level of the Lynk & Co 03 TCR which dominated qualifying at Zandvoort (Netherlands) with pole for Thed Björk. The Cyan Racing mounts will only be able to use 97,5% of the engine power compared to 100% previously and will thus be at the level of the Hyundai i30 N. The other cars will have full power.

WTCR Race 1 will be broadcast live this Saturday at 14:15 p.m. on Eurosport 2.