Tarquini takes pole at Michelisz in Slovakia

The weight of the years is definitely not felt on the helmet of Gabriele tarquini (Hyundai). The 2009 WTCC champion, 56, was the fastest in the World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) qualifying session in Slovakia on Friday evening. The BRC Racing Team driver stole pole position for Race 1 from his teammate Norbert Michelisz (Hyundai, +0''352) in its final attempt.

Another Hyundai i30 N is in third place, that of the leader in the general classification Yvan muller (+0''969). The first competitor not belonging to the South Korean manufacturer is the French Aurélien Comte. On his Peugeot from DG Sport Competition, the Bordeaux player was one second behind.

Despite being very overweight due to the Performance Scale (Bop), Jean Karl Vernay (Audi, 8th) entered the top 10, as did Yann Erlacher (Honda, 10th). The gap is greater between Aurélien Panis (Audi, 12th) and Nathanaël Berthon (Audi, 14th).

Thed Bjork (Hyundai) experienced a session without pressure and for good reason. The Swede, ranked seventh, will have to start from 26th and last place on the starting grid. The outgoing WTCC champion has indeed changed his engine in anticipation of the meeting, an act not authorized by the regulations.

A red flag briefly disrupted the session: John Filippi (Cupra) crashed into the gravel during his second timed lap and did not have time to get back on track (25th).

Race 1 will start at noon on Saturday, and can be followed live video on the site wtcr.oscaro.com.

WTCR 1 Qualifying standings at the Slovakia Ring: