Yann Ehrlacher kept Cyan Racing at the top of the times in qualifying for the FIA TCR World Tour at El Pinar in Uruguay, comfortably ahead of Hyundai’s Mikel Azcona in second.
The Lynk & Co drivers had dominated the times earlier in the day, and the strong pace continued into qualifying, as Ma Qing Hua headed up a twice red-flagged Q1.
The first stoppage came after Squadra Martino’s Enrique Maglione went off nine minutes into the session, with team-mate Rodrigo Baptista and BRC Racing’s Azcona having also slid off the circuit onto the mud early on, with recent rain making anywhere off the asphalt a treacherous place to be.
The second red flag came out with just two and a half minutes to go when Cobra Racing’s Thiago Vivacqua went off into the barriers and damaged his Toyota Corolla.
But on a dry circuit, Ma was able to lap with the best time of Q1 in 1 minute 20.564 seconds, some six and a half seconds quicker than the inclement practice session beforehand.
In Q2, Ehrlacher put in the fastest time of 1:20.227 to edge out Azcona by a notable 0.379 seconds.
After holding the top four places in a wet first practice, Cyan Racing were not able to repeat the feat in qualifying. Instead, third and fourth went to the BRC Hyundai duo of Norbert Michelisz and Néstor Girolami, although the latter had to abort his final Q2 run after clipping a tyre stack on the inside of the final corner as he geared up to start a flying lap.
Thed Björk was fifth in his Lynk & Co, ahead of team-mate and home hero Santiago Urrutia in sixth.
GOAT Racing’s Esteban Guerrieri was the best of the Honda drivers in seventh, in what was ultimately a disappointing session for the Civic racers as the Argentine found himself as the sole representative in Q2.
Volcano Motorsport’s John Filippi put the only Audi in the field in eighth, with the top ten completed by PMO Racing’s Pedro Cardoso, the top TCR South America driver, and Cyan Racing’s Ma.
That means the reverse-grid pole position for Sunday’s second race goes to Ma, with Cardoso’s Peugeot alongside.
Ma was later handed a five-place grid penalty for the opening race, for impeding Azcona and Girolami in Q2, but it will not affect his reverse-grid pole for race two.
Toyota’s Matías Rossi was 11th, ahead of the Paladini Racing Toyota of Juan Ángel Rosso in 12th.
Two TCR World Tour regulars failed to get out of Q1 – Marco Butti was 13th fastest and had suffered an off which saw him kiss the barriers, whilst team-mate Dušan Borković was only 18th, over two seconds off the Q1 pace.
Race one is scheduled to get underway at 10:10 local time on Sunday (14:10 BST, 15:10 CEST).
Q2 results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 168 |  |
Yann EHRLACHER | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 6 | 1:20.227 | – |
| 2 | 196 |  |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 6 | 1:20.606 | 0.379 |
| 3 | 105 |  |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 5 | 1:20.641 | 0.414 |
| 4 | 129 |  |
Néstor GIROLAMI | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 4 | 1:20.711 | 0.484 |
| 5 | 111 |  |
Thed BJÖRK | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 6 | 1:20.729 | 0.502 |
| 6 | 112 |  |
Santiago URRUTIA | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 5 | 1:21.050 | 0.823 |
| 7 | 186 | |
Esteban GUERRIERI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 5 | 1:21.279 | 1.052 |
| 8 | 127 | |
John FILIPPI | Volcano Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 6 | 1:21.322 | 1.095 |
| 9 | 43 |  |
Pedro CARDOSO | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 6 | 1:21.404 | 1.177 |
| 10 | 155 |  |
MA Qing Hua | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 6 | 1:21.419 | 1.192 |
| 11 | 17 | |
Matías ROSSI | Toyota Team Argentina | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 5 | 1:21.432 | 1.205 |
| 12 | 16 | |
Juan Ángel ROSSO | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 6 | 1:22.062 | 1.835 |
Q1 results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 155 | |
MA Qing Hua | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 11 | 1:20.564 | – |
| 2 | 196 | |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 11 | 1:20.761 | 0.197 |
| 3 | 105 | |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 11 | 1:20.826 | 0.262 |
| 4 | 129 | |
Néstor GIROLAMI | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 11 | 1:20.987 | 0.423 |
| 5 | 168 | |
Yann EHRLACHER | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 12 | 1:21.150 | 0.586 |
| 6 | 111 | |
Thed BJÖRK | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 10 | 1:21.358 | 0.794 |
| 7 | 112 | |
Santiago URRUTIA | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 11 | 1:21.514 | 0.950 |
| 8 | 186 | |
Esteban GUERRIERI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 11 | 1:21.702 | 1.138 |
| 9 | 16 | |
Juan Ángel ROSSO | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 11 | 1:21.871 | 1.307 |
| 10 | 43 | |
Pedro CARDOSO | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 10 | 1:21.959 | 1.395 |
| 11 | 127 | |
John FILIPPI | Volcano Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 10 | 1:22.026 | 1.462 |
| 12 | 17 | |
Matías ROSSI | Toyota Team Argentina | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 11 | 1:22.027 | 1.463 |
| 13 | 199 |  |
Marco BUTTI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 10 | 1:22.278 | 1.714 |
| 14 | 47 | |
Norberto FONTANA | Squadra Martino Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 11 | 1:22.323 | 1.759 |
| 15 | 60 | |
Juan Manuel CASELLA | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 12 | 1:22.337 | 1.773 |
| 16 | 3 | |
Rodrigo BAPTISTA | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 11 | 1:22.411 | 1.847 |
| 17 | 8 | |
Rafael SUZUKI | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 10 | 1:22.527 | 1.963 |
| 18 | 62 |  |
Dušan BORKOVIĆ | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 9 | 1:22.641 | 2.077 |
| 19 | 77 | |
Raphael REIS | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 10 | 1:22.811 | 2.247 |
| 20 | 28 | |
Galid OSMAN | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 9 | 1:22.906 | 2.342 |
| 21 | 34 | |
Fabio CASAGRANDE | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 12 | 1:23.579 | 3.015 |
| 22 | 18 | |
Carlos SILVA | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 12 | 1:23.987 | 3.423 |
| 23 | 7 | |
Thiago VIVACQUA | Cobra Racing Team | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 8 | 1:24.234 | 3.670 |
| 24 | 37 | |
Guilherme REISCHL | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 10 | 1:27.467 | 6.903 |
| 25 | 15 | |
Enrique MAGLIONE | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 2 | No time | N/A |