Brigliadori beats Giardelli to Vallelunga pole position

Eric Brigliadori will start from the pole position in TCR Italy’s round 7 this afternoon at Vallelunga. The BF Motorsport youngster set the fastest lap in the late stages of the Qualifying with a lap of 1:40.135 that was more than two tenths faster than the 1:40.388 set by Alessandro Giardelli in the MM Motorsport Honda Civic Type R. This was the second pole position of the season for Brigliadori who had already topped the Qualifying in the opening event at Mugello, while the second place is Giardelli’s best result so far.
Felice Jelmini was the first driver to complete a lap in less that 1:41, posting a provisional fastest time of 1:40.954, but Brigliadori ousted him from the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:40.652. The current leader of the standings, Salvatore Tavano, responded with a new fastest lap of 1:40.635, but then Giardelli was clocked at 1:40.388 and looked set to claim his maiden pole until Brigliadori improved further on his last attempt.
Giardelli’s teammates Jacopo Guidetti and Massimiliano Mugelli qualified fifth and sixth respectively. 
The point for the pole position helped Brigliadori to move into second in the standings, nine points behind Tavano and on equal points with Pellegrini. 
Race 1 will start in the afternoon at 17:50 local time (CEST) and will be streamed live at www.tcr-series.com.

Qualifying
1:40.135 Eric Brigliadori (BF Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS)
1:40.388 Alessandro Giardelli (MM Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7)
1:40.616 Felice Jelmini (PMA Motorsport, Hyundai i30 N)
1:40.645 Salvatore Tavano (Scuderia del Girasole, CUPRA Leon Competición)
1:41.258 Jacopo Guidetti (MM Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7)

Championship points
1. Salvatore Tavano 92 pts; 2. Eric Brigliadori 83; 3. Marco Pellegrini 83. 

Picture: ACI Sport