Home hero Norbert Michelisz secured a race three pole position at the Hungaroring, beating Esteban Guerrieri by eight thousandths of a second with a time of 1 minute 52.784 seconds in the final session.
The Hungarian was forced to watch three drivers try and beat his time, having set his pole lap early in Q3, which included a tense final minute as BRC Racing team-mate Gabriele Tarquini looked close to knocking Michelisz from the top.
The BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse driver looked strong throughout the session, heading the times in the first session.
It was typically hectic as drivers battled to make it through to Q2, the order swapping almost every lap with improving track grip around the Hungaroring circuit.
In the first half of the session many drivers used old tyres to set a banker lap, before switching to a new set as the Q1 session reached its climax.
Michelisz finished the first session top with a time of 1 minute 52.801 seconds, ahead of the Honda of Néstor Girolami, and Cyan Performance duo Andy Priaulx and Yann Ehrlacher, while WTCR rookie Mikel Azcona rounded out the top five.
Surprisingly, Cyan Racing’s race one podium finisher Yvan Muller missed out on progressing to Q2, ending the first part of qualifying down in 15th in a competitive session in which the top 23 cars were covered by less than a second.
Comtoyou Team DHL Cupra Racing’s Tom Coronel qualified 16th at a track thought to suit the Cupra Léon TCR car.
The majority of cars headed out immediately for Q2, apart from BRC Hyundai Lukoil Racing’s Augusto Farfus who went against the trend by risking it all on one final lap to try and make Q3.
In the first Q2 runs Ehrlacher topped the pile with at lap of 1 minute 52.309 seconds, a time that remained unbeaten as the drivers finished their second hot laps in the dying seconds of the session.
Positions 7-12 decided, the impressive PWR Racing pilot Azcona taking sixth, ahead of Cyan’s Thed Björk, Farfus, who’s alternate strategy left him in eighth, rookie Daniel Haglöf in ninth just 0.463 back from Ehrlacher, and Audi Sport Leopard Racing’s Jean-Karl Vernay taking a reverse-grid race two pole.
SLR VW Motorsport’s Rob Huff had a half-spin on his second run, leaving him in 11th place ahead of Lynk & Co’s Andy Priaulx who has struggled to break into the top ten all weekend.
First out in Q3 was yesterdays race winner Néstor Girolami, who looked to be on for a front row start before his time was disallowed for track limits abuse at the tricky uphill Turn 4.
Michelisz went next, setting a time of 1min52.784 that would be good enough for pole after the remaining drivers set their times.
The BRC Hyundai N Squadra Course driver held on to pole despite being a couple of tenths slower that Girolami’s pole time for race one.
Münnich Motorsport’s Guerrieri had a scrappy start to his timed lap, the car looking on-edge in the first sector, before consecutive purple sectors left him only eight thousandths of a second slower than Michelisz.
Ehrlacher, who was fastest in Q2, could only manage a time of 1 minute 52.824 seconds, meaning he heads the second row alongside Michelisz’ team-mate Tarquini who struggled with brake issues on his timed run.
Race two is scheduled to get underway at 15:30 CEST (14:30 BST) with race three following at 17:00 CEST (16:00 BST).
Q3 results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 3 | 1:52.784 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 3 | 1:52.792 | 0.008 |
| 3 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER |  |
Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 3 | 1:52.824 | 0.040 |
| 4 | 1 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 3 | 1:52.907 | 0.123 |
| 5 | 29 | Néstor GIROLAMI | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 3 | Disallowed | N/A |
Q2 results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | |
Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 5 | 1:52.309 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 29 | Néstor GIROLAMI | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 5 | 1:52.461 | 0.152 |
| 3 | 1 | Gabriele TARQUINI | |
BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 5 | 1:52.607 | 0.298 |
| 4 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ | |
BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 5 | 1:52.709 | 0.400 |
| 5 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 5 | 1:52.722 | 0.413 |
| 6 | 96 | Mikel AZCONA |  |
PWR Racing | CUPRA TCR | 5 | 1:52.733 | 0.424 |
| 7 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 5 | 1:52.742 | 0.433 |
| 8 | 8 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 4 | 1:52.743 | 0.434 |
| 9 | 37 | Daniel HAGLÖF | |
PWR Racing | CUPRA TCR | 3 | 1:52.772 | 0.463 |
| 10 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY | |
Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 5 | 1:52.861 | 0.552 |
| 11 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
SLR VW Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 5 | 1:52.885 | 0.576 |
| 12 | 111 | Andy PRIAULX | |
Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 5 | 1:52.948 | 0.639 |
Q1 results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ | |
BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 7 | 1:52.801 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 29 | Néstor GIROLAMI | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 9 | 1:52.811 | 0.010 |
| 3 | 111 | Andy PRIAULX | |
Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 8 | 1:52.855 | 0.054 |
| 4 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | |
Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 8 | 1:52.879 | 0.078 |
| 5 | 96 | Mikel AZCONA | |
PWR Racing | CUPRA TCR | 6 | 1:52.889 | 0.088 |
| 6 | 8 | Augusto FARFUS | |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 8 | 1:52.962 | 0.161 |
| 7 | 37 | Daniel HAGLÖF | |
PWR Racing | CUPRA TCR | 8 | 1:52.965 | 0.164 |
| 8 | 12 | Rob HUFF | |
SLR VW Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 8 | 1:52.980 | 0.179 |
| 9 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 9 | 1:53.011 | 0.210 |
| 10 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY | |
Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 9 | 1:53.035 | 0.234 |
| 11 | 1 | Gabriele TARQUINI | |
BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 8 | 1:53.046 | 0.245 |
| 12 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK | |
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 8 | 1:53.074 | 0.273 |
| 13 | 88 | Nicky CATSBURG |  |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 8 | 1:53.118 | 0.317 |
| 14 | 21 | Aurélien PANIS | |
Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing | CUPRA TCR | 6 | 1:53.168 | 0.367 |
| 15 | 100 | Yvan MULLER | |
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 8 | 1:53.271 | 0.470 |
| 16 | 50 | Tom CORONEL | |
Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing | CUPRA TCR | 8 | 1:53.293 | 0.492 |
| 17 | 9 | Attila TASSI | |
KCMG | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 7 | 1:53.337 | 0.536 |
| 18 | 25 | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
SLR VW Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 8 | 1:53.408 | 0.607 |
| 19 | 22 | Frédéric VERVISCH |  |
Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 6 | 1:53.426 | 0.625 |
| 20 | 33 | Benjamin LEUCHTER |  |
SLR Volkswagen | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 8 | 1:53.563 | 0.762 |
| 21 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
KCMG | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 7 | 1:53.601 | 0.800 |
| 22 | 14 | Johan KRISTOFFERSSON | |
SLR Volkswagen | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 8 | 1:53.629 | 0.828 |
| 23 | 10 | Niels LANGEVELD | |
Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 7 | 1:53.695 | 0.894 |
| 24 | 31 | Kevin CECCON | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 9 | 1:53.954 | 1.153 |
| 25 | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 8 | 1:54.015 | 1.214 |
| 26 | 55 | Ma QING HUA |  |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 9 | 1:54.292 | 1.491 |
| 27 | 23 | Támas TENKE | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 9 | 1:55.276 | 2.475 |