Sandown TCR: Girolami storms to debut pole
WTCR regular Nestor Girolami recovered from an early mistake to secure a comfortable series debut pole position at Sandown.
Nestor Girolami, Wall Racing Honda Civic Type R TCR
TCR Australia
The practice pacesetter had an awkward start to the session, a mistake at Dandenong Road eight minutes in resulting in a trip through the gravel.
But his recovery was swift, the Argentine going quickest on his very next lap with a 1m15.156s.
His next lap was quicker again, a 1m14.586s stretching his advantage.
Wall Honda teammate John Martin did close the gap to 0.01s with a couple of minutes to go, Girolami responding with a remarkable 1m13.963s on his final run to grab pole.
"I'm really happy," said Girolami. "Thanks to the team, they've done na amazing job since yesterday.
"It was a scary qualifying, I made a mistake and locked a front. After that I adjusted my brake bias and tried to do a clean lap."
Supercars ace Andre Heimgartner (Kelly Holden) grabbed second at the flag, albeit more than three tenths shy of the polesitter.
Martin slipped back to third, points leader Will Brown (HMO Hyundai) set to join him on the second row.
Brown will start with a five-place advantage over chief title rival Dylan O'Keeffe, the ASM Alfa driver just ninth quickest in that session.
The first race kicks off at 1:10pm local time.
Pos | # | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
1 | 38 | Nestor Girolami (ARG) | Wall Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 1:13.9637 | |
2 | 777 | Andre Heimgartner (NZ) | Kelly Racing | Holden Astra | 1:14.3147 | 00.3510 |
3 | 24 | John Martin (NSW) | Wall Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 1:14.4205 | 00.4568 |
4 | 30 | William Brown (Qld) | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai i30N | 1:14.5029 | 00.5392 |
5 | 8 | Jason Bright (Vic) | Taskforce/Melb Performance Cnt | Volkswagon Golf GTI | 1:14.7351 | 00.7714 |
6 | 7 | Jordan Cox (NSW) | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 1:15.0217 | 01.0580 |
7 | 50 | Tony D’Alberto (Vic) | Wall Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 1:15.3768 | 01.4131 |
8 | 62 | Bryce Fullwood (NT) | Kelly Racing | Holden Astra | 1:15.4249 | 01.4612 |
9 | 9 | Dylan O’Keeffe (Vic) | Ashley Seward Motorsport | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 1:16.0341 | 02.0704 |
10 | 34 | James Moffat (Vic) | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Renault Megane RS | 1:16.0353 | 02.0716 |
11 | 3 | Garth Tander (Vic) | Melbourne Performance Centre | Audi RS 3 | 1:16.0379 | 02.0742 |
12 | 97 | Liam McAdam (Qld) | Melbourne Performance Centre | Audi RS 3 | 1:16.1310 | 02.1673 |
13 | 100 | Russell Ingall (Qld) | Melbourne Performance Centre | Audi RS 3 | 1:16.5845 | 02.6208 |
14 | 2 | Aaron Cameron (Vic) | Melbourne Performance Centre | Volkswagen Golf GTI | 1:16.8578 | 02.8941 |
15 | 11 | Nathan Morcom (NSW) | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai i30N | 1:17.2787 | 03.3150 |
16 | 33 | Chris Pither (NZ) | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Renault Megane RS | 1:17.8114 | 03.8477 |
17 | 35 | Alexandra Whitley (Qld) | Melbourne Performance Centre | Volkswagon Golf GTI | 1:18.8787 | 04.9150 |
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