Pedro Salvador tops Qualifying in Vila Real

Current TCR Portugal points leader Pedro Salvador topped both today’s Qualifying sessions in Vila Real and will start from pole position in the series rounds 3 and 4.
Salvador set the pace from the beginning of the first session in his Speedy Motorsport Cupra posting a provisional fastest lap of 2:04.821. He was temporarily demoted to second when Rafael Lobato was clocked at 2:04.786 in the Sports & You Peugeot 308; however Salvador was able to improve further to 2:04.525 that granted him the pole for tomorrow’s Race 1.
Armando Parente qualified the Team Novadriver Volkswagen Golf GTI in third position, behind Lobato, with a fastest lap of 2:05.696; the two Audi RS3 LMS cars of Gustavo Moura (Speedy Motorsport) and Francisco Carvalho (Veloso Motorsport) ranked in fourth and fifth.
Carvalho was the early leader in the second session with a lap of 2:04.614, but once again Salvador emerged as the fastest of the pack with a lap of 2:04.302.
When the session resumed after a brief suspension to reposition the kerbs in a chicane, Francisco Abreu set the third fastest lap of 2:05.433 in the Peugeot he shares with Lobato.
Moura repeated his fourth place, followed by Parente’s co-driver José Cautela in fifth.
Manuel Gião missed both sessions as the team was trying to fix some electrical bugs that plagued his KIA c’eed.
The first race will start tomorrow at 15:05 local time (16:05 CET).