Macau – Qualifications: Nestor Girolami on pole for the C1 and an ideal scenario

Dominant and confident, Nestor "Bebu" Girolami set the fastest time in the first Touring Car race of the international week at the Guia de Macau circuit. The challenge lies in finding the car that offers the best compromise between the very fast lower section and the much more twisty upper part of the track. This is the South American's first pole position this year; 2025 has not been easy for the drivers. HyundaiThey can only rely on flashes of brilliance to restore the Elantra's reputation. It was on the last lap of the session that Girolami snatched the best time from Yann Ehrlacher (Cyan racing-Lynk&Co 03). He beat the World Cup leader by 0.3 seconds, despite Ehrlacher carrying an extra 30kg. success ballast (ballast for his results). The Argentinian will have only one mission tomorrow morning: to look straight ahead without worrying about what will happen behind him.

Ehrlacher and Björk neck and neck

The two title contenders are keen to keep the suspense high. The two strongest drivers in the championship are in direct competition. The opportunity to score big points will be this Saturday morning. What is the mindset of the two men knowing that they are separated by 36 points, with the Alsatian driver holding the advantage? Yann knows he has the edge over the Swedish driver, but he has nevertheless decided to pull out all the stops, sometimes exceeding the permitted limit.“I’m really happy with second place. On my first run in Q2, I hit the wall quite hard coming out of Turn 4, and I wasn’t sure if I’d broken anything on the car. In Macau, if something breaks and you go off, you’re not just out: you lose your lap and you can even be disqualified for causing a red flag. So I thought, ‘OK, this lap should be enough to be in the top 5,’ and I didn’t want to take any more risks. With the ballast we’re carrying, P2 is a great result. Starting from the front row in Macau is always good. The climb back to Lisbon is long, so I’ll need a good start tomorrow, but I’m happy with P2 and now the goal is to score big points in the race.”

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His opponent, Thed Björk, is the one through whom the threat must arrive. The Nordic player is therefore very ambitious: “I’m really happy with this third place. Honestly, I didn’t expect to be so well placed today, so it’s a great result. Congratulations to Bebu – that was an incredible lap – and also to Yann for his very clever approach to qualifying. Yann has been very smart all season, and that’s exactly what you have to do if you want to be champion. I have a lot of respect for him. For my part, the car felt good and I pushed as hard as I could without taking any stupid risks, which is a very delicate balance here. I think the races are going to be exciting. Anything can happen here, and we’re going to give it our all.”

The stage is set; all that remains is for Yann Ehrlacher to put everything in the right order. He could be lifting the World Touring Car Cup for the third time in his career as early as tomorrow morning! Tune in tomorrow morning (6:05 AM French time) to the TCR World Tour YouTube channel to watch the first race of this exciting final round of the world touring car championship.

> Follow the race live on video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywySwjWX4sc

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Qualifying results