Second consecutive pole for Jelmini in TCR Italy
Felice Jelmini won his second consecutive pole position in TCR Italy, as he topped the Qualifying at Imola, setting the fastest lap with two minutes left on the clock, just before the red flag was waved.
In the early stages, provisional fastest laps had been clocked by Jacopo Guidetti (1:53.302) and Damiano Reduzzi (1:53.250). Jelmini was set to go faster, but his effort was frustrated by the yellow flag that was shown after Raffaele Gurrieri’s CUPRA stopped in the gravel trap at Turn 18.
When the green flag was waved, Guidetti jumped on top of the timesheet again with a lap of 1:52.722, but Jelmini’s last attempt resulted in an even faster lap of 1:52.523 that was good enough to claim the pole position ahead of Guidetti and Reduzzi.
The session was virtually closed with two minutes left on the clock, when Ettore Carminati’s Hyundai stopped in the gravel trap at T5 and the red flag was waved.
The reigning champion Salvatore Tavano qualified fourth, with Michele Imberti an impressive fifth in his CUPRA DSG
Marco Pellegrini and Eric Brigliadori who are currently first and second in the standings, could not achieve anything better than eighth and 13th respectively, with gaps of 1.2 and 1.8 seconds.
Race 1 will start tomorrow at 14:20 local time (CEST) and will be streamed live at www.tcr-series.com.
Qualifying
1:52.523 Felice Jelmini (PMA Motorsport, Hyundai i30 N
1:52.722 Jacopo Guidetti (MM Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7)
1:53.250 Damiano Reduzzi (Trico WRT Team, Hyundai i30 N)
1:53.445 Salvatore Tavano (Scuderia del Girasole, CUPRA Leon Competición
1:53.455 Michele Imberti (Élite Motorsport, CUPRA DSG)
Championship points
1. Marco Pellegrini 76 pts; 2. Eric Brigliadori 62; 3. Salvatore Tavano 60
Picture: ACI Sport
