Mat’o Homola has taken pole position for the opening TCR International Series race at Salzburgring, with championship leader Jean-Karl Vernay eliminated in Q1.
Practice pace-setter Duŝan Borković will share the front row alongside in the Alfa Romeo Giulietta after Homola’s 1:25.481 pipped the Serbian by 0.071 seconds, with Pepe Oriola third.
Attila Tassi scored an impressive fourth for JAS Motorsport after a brand-new Honda Civic Type R chassis was transported to Salzburgring overnight from Italy, with Thomas Jager and Britain’s James Nash rounding out the top six.
However the latter two will be promoted a place on the grid, after Tassi was given a penalty for a change of engine (and car) which sends him to thed back of the grid.
Crucially, championship leader Jean-Karl Vernay will start from the midfield in tenth, having been 14th fastest, after penalties are applied, due to struggling for pace in the Volkswagen Golf GTI.
His main rival Roberto Colciago could only qualify tenth for the opening race tomorrow, which became 13th after his five-place grid penalty from Monza was applied and the penalties of other drivers were taken into consideration. He will therefore start race two from pole position as he looks to close a 16-point standings deficit.
Qualifying got underway with the circuit in it’s best condition of the weekend so far, exemplified as Homola set an early benchmark of 1:26.204 to eclipse the times of both earlier free practice sessions.
Series débutante Daniel Lloyd then continued to impress for Craft-Bamboo Racing as he became the first man to lower the times into the 1:25s.
Stian Paulsen’s poor luck continued as his SEAT went off at the long right-hand hairpin at Turn 5, prompting yellow flags in the closing stages of Q1 and hampering several efforts to improve.
The Norwegian had earlier gone off in Practice 2, and was eliminated as a result.
The dying embers of the first session held several improvements as improvements for Gianni Morbidelli and Rob Huff forced Vernay out of contention.
However, Huff was later also given a penalty for having an engine change on his car ahead of the first race, sending the Brit to the back of the grid alongside Tassi.
Moller, Paulsen, Vesnic, Demoustier, Altoe, Ende, Bettera and Ferrara were the others to drop out at the first hurdle.
The second session proved a more muted affair, though Lloyd notably struggled and will make his racing debut in the championship from 11th.
Oriola and Borkovic both took turns atop the timesheets in the opening stages, but once clear Homola maximised his pace advantage to hold top spot.
Q2 results (* excluding penalties)
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Opel Astra TCR | 6 | 1:25.481 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 62 | Dušan BORKOVIĆ |  |
GE-Force | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 6 | 1:25.552 | 0.071 |
| 3 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 7 | 1:25.558 | 0.077 |
| 4 | 9 | Attila TASSI* |  |
M1RA | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 7 | 1:25.636 | 0.155 |
| 5 | 35 | Thomas JÄGER |  |
Team Kissling Motorsport | Opel Astra TCR | 6 | 1:25.950 | 0.469 |
| 6 | 54 | James NASH |  |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 7 | 1:25.954 | 0.473 |
| 7 | 3 | Rob HUFF* | |
Leopard Racing Team WRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 7 | 1:26.015 | 0.534 |
| 8 | 1 | Stefano COMINI |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 7 | 1:26.103 | 0.622 |
| 9 | 10 | Gianni MORBIDELLI |  |
West Coast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 7 | 1:26.117 | 0.636 |
| 10 | 5 | Roberto COLCIAGO* | |
M1RA | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 7 | 1:26.144 | 0.663 |
| 11 | 17 | Daniel LLOYD | |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 7 | 1:26.232 | 0.751 |
| 12 | 6 | Frédéric VERVISCH |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 3 | 1:26.893 | 1.412 |
Q1 results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 5 | Roberto COLCIAGO | |
M1RA | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 10 | 1:25.913 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 17 | Daniel LLOYD | |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 9 | 1:25.984 | 0.071 |
| 3 | 9 | Attila TASSI | |
M1RA | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 12 | 1:25.992 | 0.079 |
| 4 | 35 | Thomas JÄGER | |
Team Kissling Motorsport | Opel Astra TCR | 7 | 1:26.011 | 0.098 |
| 5 | 1 | Stefano COMINI | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 10 | 1:26.036 | 0.123 |
| 6 | 62 | Dušan BORKOVIĆ | |
GE-Force | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 10 | 1:26.041 | 0.128 |
| 7 | 3 | Rob HUFF | |
Leopard Racing Team WRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 1:26.166 | 0.253 |
| 8 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA | |
DG Sport Compétition | Opel Astra TCR | 10 | 1:26.169 | 0.256 |
| 9 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA | |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 10 | 1:26.180 | 0.267 |
| 10 | 54 | James NASH | |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 10 | 1:26.260 | 0.347 |
| 11 | 6 | Frédéric VERVISCH | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 11 | 1:26.341 | 0.428 |
| 12 | 10 | Gianni MORBIDELLI | |
West Coast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 10 | 1:26.366 | 0.453 |
| 13 | 2 | Jean-Karl VERNAY |  |
Leopard Racing Team WRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 12 | 1:26.578 | 0.665 |
| 14 | 16 | Davit KAJAIA |  |
GE-Force | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 12 | 1:26.633 | 0.720 |
| 15 | 11 | Jens Reno MØLLER |  |
Reno Racing | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 12 | 1:26.678 | 0.765 |
| 16 | 34 | Stian PAULSEN |  |
Stian Paulsen Racing | SEAT León TCR | 9 | 1:26.710 | 0.797 |
| 17 | 31 | Milovan VESNIĆ | |
ASK Vesnić | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 11 | 1:26.913 | 1.000 |
| 18 | 66 | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | |
DG Sport Compétition | Opel Astra TCR | 11 | 1:26.930 | 1.017 |
| 19 | 21 | Giacomo ALTOÈ | |
West Coast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 1:27.226 | 1.313 |
| 20 | 18 | Duncan ENDE |  |
Icarus Motorsports | SEAT León TCR | 8 | 1:27.764 | 1.851 |
| 21 | 36 | Enrico BETTERA | |
Pit Lane Competizioni | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 11 | 1:27.889 | 1.976 |
| 22 | 32 | Luigi FERRARA | |
Top Run Motorsport | Subaru WRX STi TCR | 6 | 1:28.234 | 2.321 |