Muller, Michelisz and Björk at the back of the grid for the C1 at the Slovakia Ring

The 40 kg of ballast applied to the Hyundai i30 N participating in the World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) apparently had no influence on the pace displayed by the BRC Racing Team and Yvan Muller Racing during testing on Friday at the Slovakia Ring (Slovakia). Gabriele Tarquini took pole and had rejected the first non-competitorHyundai, Aurélien Comte (Peugeot , no ballast) more than a second away.

However, during the night from Friday to Saturday, the commissioners of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) announced that the cars of Norbert Michelisz (2nd time), Yvan Muller (3rd) and Thed Björk (7th) will have to start from the last places on the starting grid for Race 1 (start at noon Saturday).

Technical inspectors detected non-compliance with the maximum power boost pressure on the three models. The amount of boost is dictated by the Balance of Performance (BoP). This weekend, the Hyundais must have a boost representing 97,5% of the engine's power without restriction, for the sake of fairness with other cars considered slower (the Peugeots or the Alfa Romeo thus have 102,5% boost).

Leader in the championship, Yvan Muller will start with a clear disadvantage because only the first 10 will score points. The Frenchman nevertheless decided not to appeal, just like Thed Björk, while Norbert Michelisz's BRC Racing Team did not sign the appropriate box on the document communicated by the FIA.

Gabriele Tarquini keeps his pole, but will now face Aurélien Comte (2nd) and Pepe Oriola (Cupra, 3rd) at the start. Jean Karl Vernay (Audi) will start fifth, Yann Erlacher (Honda, 2nd overall), will be seventh.