Néstor Girolami has called his front row qualifying position an ‘amazing’ result for Polestar Cyan Racing, as the Argentine qualified in second for the Main Race in Morocco.
Girolami had been the fastest Volvo driver in second practice, when he was fourth, before going on to finish Q1 in fifth fastest and Q2 in third.
With Honda having been at the top of the times all day, Girolami knew challenging for pole position would be difficult, and he was therefore pleased to have split the two factory Civics of Tiago Monteiro and Norbert Michelisz.
“First of all, I would like to congratulate Tiago for the pole position, all Polestar and all the guys for this amazing qualifying,” said Girolami. “For me it was the first time in Marrakech, nothing easy, because when you come to a street circuit always it’s very difficult to be confident with the track and in one second you can destroy your confidence.
“I took it easy through Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2 and pushed hard through Q2 and Q3. For me it was amazing; nothing bad, one Volvo between two Hondas.”
Girolami also led Volvo to a victory in their first-ever MAC3 appearance. Now the Argentine racer says he is focussed on delivering strong results in Sunday afternoon’s two races.
“For tomorrow we expect more, to get some points and start the season really well. And also winning MAC3 we start the season like a dream. Now we will see for tomorrow when we are looking forward to a really good result.”
Polestar’s Head of Motorsport Alexander Murdzevski-Schedvin added that the qualifying result, which sees Volvo leading the manufacturers’ standings for the first time, was a proud achievement.
“We are very happy to lead a World Championship for the first time ever for Volvo, Polestar and Cyan Racing,” he said. “We managed to beat Honda in MAC3 and we were really close to them in qualifying, everyone in the team can be really proud over themselves to accomplish this in Marrakech, [which is] not one of our strongest circuits.”