WTCR Aragon: Magnus snatches pole from Audi team-mate Berthon

Belgian Magnus had set the pace in the initial Q1 session, then missed out on the fastest time in Q2 to Rob Huff’s Zengo Motorsport Cupra, but saved the best until last by setting the fastest time of the weekend as the final runner in Q3.

His time of 2m05.485s was 0.195s faster than Berthon’s effort to secure an all-Audi front row for the opening race, which is scheduled for Sunday morning.

“At the last round at the Hungaroring, where we were in the same position and I had the speed to go for pole, I messed it up myself,” said Magnus.

“It’s a mental game this Q3 and you need to stay focused, and you cannot make a mistake.

“This time I did it, so much pressure off my shoulders. Tomorrow, let’s win the race.”

Berthon claimed he wasn’t too disappointed to miss out on the pole.

“P1 and P2 for the team means it’s definitely a superb day for us,” he said. “Now let’s see how we can do tomorrow in the races.

“But it’s a lot of points. Honestly, we were not expecting that.

Nathanael Berthon, Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport, Audi RS 3 LMS, Gilles Magnus, Comtoyou Team Audi Sport, Audi RS 3 LMS, Yann Ehrlacherr, Cyan Performance Lynk & Co, Lynk & Co 03 TCR

Photo by: WTCR

“We pushed to the limit and couldn’t get more from the car. Congrats to Gilles, it was an impressive lap.

“In my lap I Iost a bit in sector one, but anyway it’s a good day.”

Reigning double champion Yann Ehrlacher proved marginally faster than Huff in their Q3 runs, while fellow Lynk & Co driver Yvan Muller propped up the top five after clipping a track limits tyre stack at Turn 1.

Cyan Performance Lynk & Co’s Ma Qing Hua will start the partially reversed-grid race two from pole position after qualifying 10th in Q2. He will be joined at the front by the two BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse entries, which surprisingly didn’t contend for a place in the Q3 shootout despite running without success ballast, sparking speculation that the team was holding back its true pace to maintain a favourable balance of performance.

WTCR points leader Mikel Azcona was eighth fastest on his 26th birthday, with Elantra N TCR team-mate Nobert Michelisz ninth, meaning the latter will join Ma on the front row for race two.

As expected, qualifying proved a disaster for the Hondas, running with a maximum 40kg of success ballast. Nestor Girolami, second in the points to Azcona, was only 13th fastest, one place behind his Munnich Motorsport team-mate Esteban Guerrieri, who just scraped into Q2.

The Team Engstler Hondas of Attila Tassi and Tiago Monteiro fared even worse, qualifying down in 14th and 17th and last respectively.

WTCR Aragon Q3 results

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Time	Gap
1	Gilles Magnus	Audi	2'05.485
2	Nathanael Berthon	Audi	2'05.680	0.195
3	Yann Ehrlacher	Lynk & Co	2'05.808	0.323
4	Rob Huff	CUPRA	2'05.945	0.460
5	Yvan Muller	Lynk & Co	2'06.175	0.690
View full results

WTCR Aragon Q2 results

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Time	Gap
1	Rob Huff	CUPRA	2'05.783
2	Gilles Magnus	Audi	2'05.893	0.110
3	Yvan Muller	Lynk & Co	2'05.903	0.120
4	Yann Ehrlacher	Lynk & Co	2'05.933	0.150
5	Nathanael Berthon	Audi	2'05.986	0.203
6	Santiago Urrutia	Lynk & Co	2'06.000	0.217
7	Daniel Nagy	CUPRA	2'06.184	0.401
8	Mikel Azcona	Hyundai	2'06.227	0.444
9	Norbert Michelisz	Hyundai	2'06.238	0.455
10	Ma Qing Hua	Lynk & Co	2'06.532	0.749
11	Esteban Guerrieri	Honda	2'06.646	0.863
12	Thed Björk	Lynk & Co	2'07.438	1.655
View full results