Norbert Michelisz secured the first pole position of the new TCR World Tour era, edging out BRC Hyundai team-mate Mikel Azcona by just 0.035 seconds in TCR Europe qualifying at the Algarve Circuit.
Michelisz had earlier been fourth fastest in Q1, more than half a second adrift of the pace, before ending up as the top driver in Q2.
It is the first time all weekend that the Comtoyou Racing Audis have not topped the timesheets, with reigning FIA WTCR champion Azcona making it a Hyundai 1-2 at the top of the times.
Rob Huff was the best Audi driver in third, a mere 0.010 seconds behind Azcona, ahead of Audi Sport Team Comtoyou team-mate Frédéric Vervisch in fourth.
Néstor Girolami put the brand new Honda Civic in fifth for ALM Motorsport, the Argentine lapping closer to the pace than any other point this weekend, but only ending up with a third row starting position.
Ma Qing Hua was the leading Cyan Racing Lynk & Co driver in sixth, just under three tenths off the pace.
The top TCR Europe driver was Comtoyou’s Tom Coronel in seventh, as just three of the TCR Europe entrants made it through to Q2.
Thed Björk put his Lynk & Co in eighth, whilst the top ten was completed by Comtoyou’s Kobe Pauwels and Cyan’s Santiago Urrutia.
Thus, Urrutia has secured the reverse-grid pole position for race two, with TCR rookie Pauwels alongside in his Audi.
Two-time WTCR champion Yann Ehrlacher just missed out on tenth by 0.019 seconds, thus leaving the Frenchman to start 11th for both races, with Comtoyou’s John Filippi alongside in 12th.
With all of the TCR World Tour entrants progressing to Q2, it left most of the TCR Europe field going no further than Q1.
Comtoyou’s Viktor Davidovski just missed out on progressing and was 13th, with Dušan Borković, who declared himself to be a little ‘rusty’, in 14th in his Target Competition Hyundai.
Race one starts at 14:20 WEST / BST (15:20 CEST).
Q2 results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 105 |  |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 5 | 1:51.297 | – |
| 2 | 196 |  |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 5 | 1:51.332 | 0.035 |
| 3 | 179 |  |
Rob HUFF | Audi Sport Team Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 5 | 1:51.342 | 0.045 |
| 4 | 122 |  |
Frédéric VERVISCH | Audi Sport Team Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 4 | 1:51.440 | 0.143 |
| 5 | 129 |  |
Néstor GIROLAMI | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 4 | 1:51.493 | 0.196 |
| 6 | 155 |  |
MA Qing Hua | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 4 | 1:51.574 | 0.277 |
| 7 | 34 |  |
Tom CORONEL | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 4 | 1:51.604 | 0.307 |
| 8 | 111 |  |
Thed BJÖRK | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 5 | 1:51.693 | 0.396 |
| 9 | 22 | |
Kobe PAUWELS | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 4 | 1:51.708 | 0.411 |
| 10 | 112 |  |
Santiago URRUTIA | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 4 | 1:51.726 | 0.429 |
| 11 | 168 |  |
Yann EHRLACHER | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 3 | 1:51.745 | 0.448 |
| 12 | 27 | |
John FILIPPI | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 5 | 1:51.841 | 0.544 |
Q1 results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 122 | |
Frédéric VERVISCH | Audi Sport Team Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 9 | 1:51.021 | – |
| 2 | 196 | |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 9 | 1:51.320 | 0.299 |
| 3 | 179 | |
Rob HUFF | Audi Sport Team Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 9 | 1:51.479 | 0.458 |
| 4 | 105 | |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 8 | 1:51.575 | 0.554 |
| 5 | 129 | |
Néstor GIROLAMI | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 9 | 1:51.615 | 0.594 |
| 6 | 155 | |
MA Qing Hua | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 8 | 1:51.650 | 0.629 |
| 7 | 22 | |
Kobe PAUWELS | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 9 | 1:51.695 | 0.674 |
| 8 | 168 | |
Yann EHRLACHER | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 8 | 1:51.701 | 0.680 |
| 9 | 112 | |
Santiago URRUTIA | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 8 | 1:51.736 | 0.715 |
| 10 | 34 | |
Tom CORONEL | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 8 | 1:51.737 | 0.716 |
| 11 | 27 | |
John FILIPPI | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 9 | 1:51.791 | 0.770 |
| 12 | 111 | |
Thed BJÖRK | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 9 | 1:52.241 | 1.220 |
| 13 | 11 |  |
Viktor DAVIDOVSKI | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 9 | 1:52.416 | 1.395 |
| 14 | 62 |  |
Dušan BORKOVIĆ | Target Competition | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 9 | 1:52.485 | 1.464 |
| 15 | 10 | |
Viktor ANDERSSON | MA:GP | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 6 | 1:52.489 | 1.468 |
| 16 | 19 | |
Felipe FERNÁNDEZ Gil | RC2 Racing Team | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 9 | 1:52.591 | 1.570 |
| 17 | 39 | |
Lewis BROWN | Volcano Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 8 | 1:52.751 | 1.730 |
| 18 | 23 | |
Isaac SMITH | Volcano Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 8 | 1:52.824 | 1.803 |
| 19 | 71 |  |
Ben BARGWANNA | Team Clairet Sport – Burson Auto Parts Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 10 | 1:52.867 | 1.846 |
| 20 | 12 | |
Rubén FERNÁNDEZ Gil | RC2 Racing Team | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 9 | 1:52.892 | 1.871 |
| 21 | 8 |  |
Nicola BALDAN | Aggressive Team Italia | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 10 | 1:53.108 | 2.087 |
| 22 | 48 | |
Mikael KARLSSON | Aggressive Team Italia | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 10 | 1:53.369 | 2.348 |