DG Sport Compétition’s Pierre-Yves Corthals admits that he wasn’t expecting to have the pace to challenge for pole position in the TCR International Series in Bahrain, after ending up in the top spot after qualifying.
Corthals took pole after his team-mate Mat’o Homola, who had been quicker in Q2, was penalised with an engine change penalty which sends him to the back of the grid for the first race.
The Belgian had been on the pace throughout qualifying, with Corthals actually ending the Q1 session as the fastest of all.
Having complained about the results of the pre-season Balance of Performance [BoP] testing in Georgia, with the Opel Astra being the second heaviest car on the grid with 40 kg of added weight, Corthals admits to being surprised by the upturn in pace in Bahrain.
“I have the pole position, which is really good, but I really didn’t expect to be as fast as that,” admitted Corthals. “Everyone has problems with the air temperature, but maybe the others suffered more than us.
“I made two big mistakes during my fastest lap in Q2 so I lost a lot of time. I’m really happy for the team and for Opel because it’s good to have the pole position in Bahrain when we are with Formula One.
“I will try to get a good start and keep fresh air in front of me because that will give me an advantage over the others who will have hot air going into their engines.”
The first race begins at 16:30 local time (14:30 BST / 15:30 CEST).