Dominik Fugel secures Sachsenring pole for TCR Germany finale

Dominik Fugel took pole position in qualifying for the season finale of the TCR Germany series at the Sachsenring, edging out fellow Honda driver Mike Halder by less than as tenth of a second.

Fugel topped both the Q1 and Q2 sessions, initially with a lap time of 1 minute 38.893 seconds in Q1 before ending up with a 1 minute 39.428 seconds in Q2.

The German is not in contention for the title, with Halder being the best-placed of the title contenders alongside him on the front row.

Reigning champion Harald Proczyk was the leading Hyundai driver in third, ahead of title rival Antti Buri’s Audi in fourth.

Moroccan racer Sami Taoufik was an impressive fifth fastest on both his and Comtoyou Racing’s début in the series, ahead of series leader Max Hesse’s Hyundai in sixth.

Hesse was notably more than a second and a half off the pace in Q2, which took place on less favourable track conditions than Q1 late in the day in Eastern Germany.

Theo Coicaud was seventh behind his Hyundai Team Engstler team-mate, ahead of series returnee René Münnich in eighth.

Completing the top ten, and securing the reverse-grid front row for Sunday’s second race, were Marcel Fugel and series newcomer Philipp Regensperger, the latter taking the race two pole.

Race one gets underway at 13:15 CEST (12:15 BST) on Saturday.

Q2 results

POS	NO	DRIVER	NAT	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	88	Dominik FUGEL		Profi-Car Team Honda ADAC Sachsen	Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR	6	1:39.428	0.000
2	7	Mike HALDER		Profi-Car Team Honda ADAC Sachsen	Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR	6	1:39.521	0.093
3	1	Harald PROCZYK		HP Racing International	Hyundai i30 N TCR	5	1:40.495	1.067
4	13	Antti BURI		LMS Racing	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	6	1:40.519	1.091
5	25	Sami TAOUFIK		Comtoyou Racing	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	5	1:40.596	1.168
6	19	Max HESSE		Hyundai Team Engstler	Hyundai i30 N TCR	6	1:41.058	1.630
7	27	Theo COICAUD		Hyundai Team Engstler	Hyundai i30 N TCR	6	1:41.060	1.632
8	77	René MÜNNICH		ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR	5	1:41.251	1.823
9	55	Marcel FUGEL		Profi-Car Team Halder	Honda Civic Type R FK2 TCR	5	1:41.304	1.876
10	20	Philipp REGENSPERGER		Lubner Motorsport	Opel Astra TCR	6	1:41.375	1.947
11	53	Michelle HALDER		Profi-Car Team Halder	Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR	6	1:41.468	2.040
12	22	Julien APOTHÉLOZ		TOPCAR Sport	CUPRA TCR	6	1:41.937	2.509

Q1 results

POS	NO	DRIVER	NAT	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	88	Dominik FUGEL		Profi-Car Team Honda ADAC Sachsen	Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR	11	1:38.893	0.000
2	7	Mike HALDER		Profi-Car Team Honda ADAC Sachsen	Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR	9	1:39.894	1.001
3	25	Sami TAOUFIK		Comtoyou Racing	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	12	1:40.668	1.775
4	77	René MÜNNICH		ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR	12	1:40.978	2.085
5	13	Antti BURI		LMS Racing	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	12	1:40.992	2.099
6	27	Theo COICAUD		Hyundai Team Engstler	Hyundai i30 N TCR	10	1:41.048	2.155
7	19	Max HESSE		Hyundai Team Engstler	Hyundai i30 N TCR	9	1:41.145	2.252
8	1	Harald PROCZYK		HP Racing International	Hyundai i30 N TCR	9	1:41.251	2.358
9	53	Michelle HALDER		Profi-Car Team Halder	Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR	12	1:41.449	2.556
10	55	Marcel FUGEL		Profi-Car Team Halder	Honda Civic Type R FK2 TCR	7	1:41.495	2.602
11	20	Philipp REGENSPERGER		Lubner Motorsport	Opel Astra TCR	13	1:41.794	2.901
12	22	Julien APOTHÉLOZ		TOPCAR Sport	CUPRA TCR	13	1:42.050	3.157
13	28	Pascal EBERLE		Steibel Motorsport 2	CUPRA TCR	13	1:42.131	3.238
14	29	Mitchell CHEAH Min Jie		VW Team Oettinger	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	12	1:42.310	3.417
15	23	Sebastian STEIBEL		Steibel Motorsport	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	15	1:42.494	3.601
16	8	René KIRCHER		racing one	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	13	1:42.845	3.952
17	98	Jan SEYFFERT		Lubner Motorsport	LADA Vesta TCR	12	1:43.064	4.171
18	99	Maurits SANDBERG		VW Team Oettinger	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	13	1:43.699	4.806
19	32	James BISCHOF		Young Driver Challenge	CUPRA TCR	14	1:43.862	4.969
20	48	Sophie HOFMANN		TOPCAR Sport	CUPRA TCR	12	1:48.142	9.249