Dušan Borković headed a B3 Racing 1-2 in qualifying for the TCR International Series at Oschersleben, edging out team-mate Mat’o Homola by 0.259 seconds to take his second pole in the series.
Borković had been just sixth fastest in the first part of qualifying, but found form in the all-important Q2 session to post a time which was only a tenth slower than the absolute best set by Pepe Oriola in Q1.
Homola couldn’t quite beat his team-mate to take his second pole, with the Slovakian racer instead having to settle for second alongside his team-mate on the front row.
Craft-Bamboo Racing’s James Nash was third fastest, ahead of LMS Racing’s Antti Buri in fourth, who put in an impressive time despite racing the older SEAT León Cup Racer.
Craft-Bamboo’s Sergey Afanasyev made it an all-SEAT top five, although the Russian racer had his best time disallowed for exceeding the track limits.
WestCoast Racing’s Gianni Morbidelli was sixth, ahead of Leopard Racing’s Jean-Karl Vernay in seventh, with both drivers also having been hit by track limits penalties which saw their best times disallowed. In the case of Vernay, he missed out on third as a result.
The third Craft-Bamboo SEAT of Oriola could only manage eighth, despite setting the pace in Q1, with the Spaniard almost eight tenths slower than his pace earlier in the session.
Reigning champion Stefano Comini, and Liqui Moly Team Engstler’s Davit Kajaia completed the top ten, leaving the latter with the reverse-grid pole position for Sunday’s second race.
The Alfa Romeo Giulietta of Petr Fulín just missed out on the reverse grid, with the Mulsanne Racing driver ending up in 11th position ahead of the third B3 Racing SEAT of Attila Tassi.
Race one takes place at 13:00 CEST (12:00 BST) on Sunday, with race two following at 14:15 CEST (13:15 BST).
Q2 times
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 62 | Dušan BORKOVIĆ |  |
B3 Racing Team Hungary | SEAT León TCR | 5 | 1:34.872 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
B3 Racing Team Hungary | SEAT León TCR | 6 | 1:35.131 | 0.259 |
| 3 | 54 | James NASH |  |
Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León TCR | 6 | 1:35.177 | 0.305 |
| 4 | 48 | Antti BURI |  |
LMS Racing | SEAT León Cup Racer | 6 | 1:35.411 | 0.539 |
| 5 | 77 | Sergey AFANASYEV |  |
Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León TCR | 6 | 1:35.468 | 0.596 |
| 6 | 10 | Gianni MORBIDELLI |  |
West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | 6 | 1:35.499 | 0.627 |
| 7 | 2 | Jean-Karl VERNAY |  |
Leopard Racing | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 6 | 1:35.545 | 0.673 |
| 8 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León TCR | 6 | 1:35.553 | 0.681 |
| 9 | 1 | Stefano COMINI |  |
Leopard Racing | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 5 | 1:35.717 | 0.845 |
| 10 | 7 | Davit KAJAIA |  |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 6 | 1:35.786 | 0.914 |
| 11 | 22 | Petr FULÍN |  |
Mulsanne Racing | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 5 | 1:36.168 | 1.296 |
| 12 | 9 | Attila TASSI |  |
B3 Racing Team Hungary | SEAT León TCR | 5 | 1:36.328 | 1.456 |