Cyan Racing’s Santiago Urrutia scored a first pole position of the season in qualifying for the FIA World Touring Car Cup on the streets of Vila Real in Portugal, denying team-mate Yann Ehrlacher by just 0.049 seconds.
Uruguayan Urrutia had been eighth fastest in the preceding Q1 session, before improving to go second in Q2 and earn his place in the final Q3 shootout.
There, Urrutia lapped the fast street circuit slightly slower than the fastest lap of the day, posting a time of 1 minute 59.626 seconds to deny reigning champion Ehrlacher the top spot.
“I’m super-happy, it’s always good to be on pole position,” said Urrutia, who scored his third pole on merit in WTCR. “Thank you to Cyan Performance, they gave me a really good car.
“It was a tough day learning the track, but the guys they delivered the best for me. The last time I was on pole was a long time ago in Aragon, so I’m happy. Now we need to look to the strategy for tomorrow.”
Frenchman Ehrlacher was just 0.049 seconds behind in second, whilst Münnich Motorsport’s Néstor Girolami got his Honda into Q3 and qualified in third, the Argentine a quarter of a second off the pace.
Ma Qing Hua made it three Lynk & Co drivers in the top five by putting his car in fourth, whilst Norbert Michelisz, who had earlier crashed in second practice, was the top Hyundai driver in fifth, just under half a second slower than Urrutia.
Comtoyou Racing’s Mehdi Bennani was the top driver to miss out on going beyond Q2, putting his Audi in sixth for the opening race, ahead of Zengő Motorsport’s Rob Huff in seventh.
Hyundai’s Mikel Azcona had been fastest of all in Q1 but the championship leader will no doubt be frustrated to have only qualified in eighth.
Likewise, the top three drivers in Q1 all failed to make an impact in Q2 – Yvan Muller put his Lynk & Co in ninth, having been second in Q1, whilst Liqui Moly Team Engstler’s Attila Tassi was tenth, after being third in the opening part.
Having bagged pole last time out in Aragón, Comtoyou Racing’s Gilles Magnus was not as rapid on the Portuguese street circuit and was 11th, ahead of Cyan Racing’s Thed Björk in 12th, the Swede having had a mid-session driveshaft change on his car.
Tiago Monteiro improved on his pace from last time out, but the Honda driver still failed to get beyond Q1, qualifying his car in 13th.
Race one is scheduled to get underway at 13:10 local time on Sunday (13:10 BST).
Q3 results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 12 |  |
Santiago URRUTIA | Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 3 | 1:59.626 | – |
| 2 | 68 |  |
Yann EHRLACHER | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 3 | 1:59.675 | 0.049 |
| 3 | 29 |  |
Néstor GIROLAMI | ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 3 | 1:59.879 | 0.253 |
| 4 | 55 |  |
MA Qing Hua | Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 3 | 1:59.880 | 0.254 |
| 5 | 5 |  |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 3 | 2:00.101 | 0.475 |
Q2 results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 68 | |
Yann EHRLACHER | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 5 | 1:59.543 | – |
| 2 | 12 | |
Santiago URRUTIA | Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 5 | 1:59.555 | 0.012 |
| 3 | 55 | |
MA Qing Hua | Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 5 | 1:59.799 | 0.256 |
| 4 | 29 | |
Néstor GIROLAMI | ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 5 | 1:59.846 | 0.303 |
| 5 | 5 | |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 5 | 1:59.995 | 0.452 |
| 6 | 25 |  |
Mehdi BENNANI | Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 3 | 2:00.017 | 0.474 |
| 7 | 79 |  |
Rob HUFF | Zengő Motorsport Services Kft | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 6 | 2:00.048 | 0.505 |
| 8 | 96 |  |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 5 | 2:00.129 | 0.586 |
| 9 | 9 | |
Attila TASSI | Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 5 | 2:00.225 | 0.682 |
| 10 | 100 | |
Yvan MULLER | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 5 | 2:00.234 | 0.691 |
| 11 | 16 |  |
Gilles MAGNUS | Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 5 | 2:00.333 | 0.790 |
| 12 | 11 |  |
Thed BJÖRK | Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 4 | 2:00.368 | 0.825 |
Q1 results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 96 | |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 8 | 2:00.063 | – |
| 2 | 100 | |
Yvan MULLER | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 8 | 2:00.108 | 0.045 |
| 3 | 9 | |
Attila TASSI | Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 11 | 2:00.146 | 0.083 |
| 4 | 68 | |
Yann EHRLACHER | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 6 | 2:00.155 | 0.092 |
| 5 | 5 | |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 8 | 2:00.158 | 0.095 |
| 6 | 79 | |
Rob HUFF | Zengő Motorsport Services Kft | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 8 | 2:00.165 | 0.102 |
| 7 | 25 | |
Mehdi BENNANI | Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 12 | 2:00.222 | 0.159 |
| 8 | 12 | |
Santiago URRUTIA | Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 7 | 2:00.321 | 0.258 |
| 9 | 16 | |
Gilles MAGNUS | Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 10 | 2:00.323 | 0.260 |
| 10 | 29 | |
Néstor GIROLAMI | ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 10 | 2:00.398 | 0.335 |
| 11 | 55 | |
MA Qing Hua | Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 9 | 2:00.492 | 0.429 |
| 12 | 11 | |
Thed BJÖRK | Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 10 | 2:00.784 | 0.721 |
| 13 | 18 |  |
Tiago MONTEIRO | Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 12 | 2:00.826 | 0.763 |
| 14 | 86 | |
Esteban GUERRIERI | ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 9 | 2:00.879 | 0.816 |
| 15 | 17 | |
Nathanaël BERTHON | Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 10 | 2:01.235 | 1.172 |
| 16 | 33 |  |
Tom CORONEL | Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 11 | 2:01.336 | 1.273 |
| 17 | 99 | |
Dániel NAGY | Zengő Motorsport Services Kft | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 11 | 2:02.398 | 2.335 |