Engstler beats Lloyd to the pole for TCR Malaysia Race 1

In a night-time Qualifying, Luca Engstler snatched pole position for Round 3 of TCR Malaysia that takes place tomorrow at Sepang International Circuit.
The young German drove his Engstler Motorsport Hyundai i30 N to clock a lap of 2:16.409 in Q2, brating Lloyd’s Brutal Fish Racing Honda Civic by eight tenths of a second; Engstler’s teammate Nico Gruber qualified in third position, 1.4 seconds off the pole sitter’s pace while series newcomer Josh Files set the fourth fastest lap at the wheel of his Hyundai i30 N run by Solite Indigo Racing one further tenth adrift. Douglas Khoo followed in fifth position with his Viper Niza racing CUPRA.
Engstler had previously topped the Q1 part of the session with a fastest lap of 2:19.548, one tenth faster than Lloyd’s 2:19.683, with Files in third position six tenths behind the German driver.
TCR Malaysia’s rounds 3 and 4 will start tomorrow at 11:00 and 14:35 local time respectively (4:00 and 7:35 CET); live streaming will be available at www.tcr-series.com.

Qualifying
2:16.409 Luca Engstler (Team Engstler, Hyundai i30 N)
2:17.265 Daniel Lloyd (Brutal Fish Racing, Honda Civic Type R)
2:17.861 Nico Gruber (Team Engstler, Hyundai i30 N)
2:17.975 Josh Files (Solite Indigo Racing, Hyundai i30 N)
2:22.109 Douglas Khoo (Viper Niza Racing, CUPRA)

Championship points
1. Lloyd 44 pts.; 2. Engstler 41; 3. G. Ang 33

Picture: TCR Malaysia