WestCoast Racing’s Kevin Gleason says he is aiming to take his first win in the TCR International Series at the Salzburgring on Sunday, after the American scored his second pole position of the season in qualifying.
Gleason pipped team-mate Gianni Morbidelli to pole with a last-gasp lap in the second part of qualifying, which saw him beat the Italian by a mere 0.091 seconds.
Having been on pole in the first-ever TCR qualifying session at the start of the year in Sepang, Malaysia, Gleason says he is now aiming to win, having taken just two podium finishes so far this year.
“It’s great to have done the pole position after such a close qualifying session,” said Gleason. “Things hadn’t started very well, after my best time in Q1 was disallowed for not seeing a yellow flag [due to the crash of Zsolt Szabó]. The radio was working on and off and there was a moment of confusion.
“In Q2, I made a small mistake on my first flying lap, but luckily I decided for a second one, which was the good one.
“I’m learning this incredible track bit by bit and it’s starting to come together. Everything was OK: the car balance, the tyres, the conditions, and also slipstreaming with Gianni. This is my second pole of the season, I have been twice on the podium, so tomorrow I’ll definitely go for my first TCR win.”
Morbidelli, who is carrying the maximum 30 kg of success ballast following his Monza wins, believes his performance in qualifying shows that he is not holding back.
“I know everybody thought after free practice that I was hiding my game, but Q2 shows that people just have too much fantasy…,” admitted Morbidelli. “There is not much more I could do today, carrying the maximum success ballast, and I only owe the second-fastest time to a good tow from Kevin.”