Münnich Motorsport’s Esteban Guerrieri claimed pole position in a rain-affected opening FIA World Touring Car Cup qualifying session on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, with drivers only able to complete one clean lap.
Rain affected the circuit prior to qualifying, although conditions had looked borderline when the session got underway, with most drivers opting to take to the track on wet rubber.
Guerrieri emerged with the fastest time after the initial tour of the 25.4 km circuit, a lap which was 10 minutes 30.955 seconds in duration and over a minute and a half slower than the earlier practice dry running.
After the first lap, the session was then affected by a lengthy yellow flag zone in sector four, after PWR Racing’s Mikel Azcona went off and his car became difficult to move after getting stuck in gear.
The session went fully green with less than five minutes remaining, and just as it did so some in the field had elected to try slick tyres on a drying circuit.
But a late heavy rain downpour nullified any attempts to improve times, leaving drivers to settle for their initial lap as the qualifying benchmark.
That left BRC Racing’s Norbert Michelisz in second, over six seconds slower than pole-sitter Guerrieri (the largest touring car pole margin in history), with the second Münnich Honda of Néstor Girolami in third.
Comtoyou Racing’s Frédéric Vervisch was fourth, despite the Belgian driver aquaplaning off the circuit at the end of the session and making heavy contact with the barriers.
Cyan Racing’s Thed Björk was the best of the Lynk & Co drivers in fifth, directly ahead of team-mate Yvan Muller, with the duo eight seconds off the pace in the mixed conditions.
WRT’s Jean-Karl Vernay put his Audi in seventh, ahead of the Lynk & Co of Yann Ehrlacher in eighth.
The top ten was completed by SLR duo Rob Huff and Nordschleife master Benjamin Leuchter, the only other drivers within ten seconds of the pace.
As the heavens opened late in the session, several drivers struggled to keep their cars on the circuit, with Tom Coronel, Augusto Farfus and Kevin Ceccon all struggling to stay on the track.
After a shunt in second practice, Comtoyou Racing Audi driver Niels Langeveld failed to even take to the circuit in qualifying.
Qualifying for races two and three is scheduled to get underway at 19:30 CEST (18:30 BST).
Qualifying result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 1 | 10:30.955 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 1 | 10:36.987 | 6.032 |
| 3 | 29 | Néstor GIROLAMI | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 2 | 10:37.143 | 6.188 |
| 4 | 22 | Frédéric VERVISCH |  |
Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 2 | 10:38.360 | 7.405 |
| 5 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 3 | 10:39.087 | 8.132 |
| 6 | 100 | Yvan MULLER |  |
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 3 | 10:39.356 | 8.401 |
| 7 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY | |
Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 2 | 10:39.878 | 8.923 |
| 8 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | |
Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 2 | 10:40.372 | 9.417 |
| 9 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
SLR VW Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 3 | 10:40.379 | 9.424 |
| 10 | 33 | Benjamin LEUCHTER |  |
SLR Volkswagen | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 2 | 10:40.925 | 9.970 |
| 11 | 1 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 1 | 10:41.131 | 10.176 |
| 12 | 14 | Johan KRISTOFFERSSON | |
SLR Volkswagen | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 3 | 10:42.267 | 11.312 |
| 13 | 88 | Nicky CATSBURG |  |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 2 | 10:42.343 | 11.388 |
| 14 | 13 | Antti BURI |  |
AS Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 2 | 10:42.505 | 11.550 |
| 15 | 25 | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
SLR VW Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 1 | 10:43.086 | 12.131 |
| 16 | 8 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 3 | 10:43.183 | 12.228 |
| 17 | 111 | Andy PRIAULX | |
Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 3 | 10:43.643 | 12.688 |
| 18 | 37 | Daniel HAGLÖF | |
PWR Racing | CUPRA TCR | 3 | 10:43.981 | 13.026 |
| 19 | 50 | Tom CORONEL | |
Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing | CUPRA TCR | 2 | 10:46.481 | 15.526 |
| 20 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
KCMG | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 2 | 10:51.019 | 20.064 |
| 21 | 9 | Attila TASSI | |
KCMG | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 2 | 10:51.305 | 20.350 |
| 22 | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 3 | 10:52.264 | 21.309 |
| 23 | 21 | Aurélien PANIS | |
Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing | CUPRA TCR | 3 | 10:58.219 | 27.264 |
| 24 | 31 | Kevin CECCON | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 3 | 11:02.184 | 31.229 |
| 25 | 55 | Ma QING HUA |  |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 2 | 11:27.577 | 56.622 |
| 26 | 96 | Mikel AZCONA |  |
PWR Racing | CUPRA TCR | 0 | No time | N/A |
| 27 | 10 | Niels LANGEVELD | |
Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 0 | No time | N/A |