Tony D’Alberto is the first-ever pole sitter in TCR Australia
Tony D’Alberto and Honda have scored the first-ever pole position in the TCR Australia Series at Sydney Motorsport Park. The Victorian drove his Civic Type R to the top spot with a blistering lap time of 1:34.1437.
D’Alberto edged out Volkswagen driver Jason Bright on his final lap to claim the top spot.
“A lot of work has gone into this effort behind the scenes, for everybody involved in the team to have that pace straight out of the gate,” said D’Alberto. “To get the first ever TCR Australia pole is a bit unexpected. We had a bit of work to do after practice yesterday, and I had to tighten the belts and have a go through Turn 1 to find the time I needed. I’m really happy for the team at Wall Racing and Honda Australia, and everyone involved in our campaign.”
Bright put down his fastest lap with five minutes remaining, moments before a red flag was waved for the stranded Renault Mégane of James Moffat.
Starting third will be Dylan O’Keeffe in the Ashley Seward Motorsport-prepared Alfa Romeo, ahead of a pair of Hyundai cars driven by Will Brown and Michael Almond.
Dutch guest star Rik Breukers qualified eighth in the Melbourne Performance Audi RS 3 LMS, while the fastest of the three ladies in the field was Chelsea Angelo, 15th in the Kelly Racing Holden Astra.
The inaugural race of TCR Australia starts at 14:10 local time (06:10 CET); live streaming at www.tcr-series.tv.
Qualifying
1. 1:34.1437 Tony D’Alberto (Wall Racing, Honda Civic FK7)
2. 1:34.2948 Jason Bright (Alliance Autosport, Volkswagen Golf GTI)
3. 1:34.4014 Dylan O’Keeffe (A. Seward Motorsport, Alfa Romeo Giulietta)
4. 1:34.6301 Will Brown (HMO Customer, Hyundai i30 N)
5. 1:34.7151 Michael Almond (G. Walden Racing, Hyundai i30 N)
