PMA Motorsport’s perfect weekend continues in Misano, as Sandro Pelatti and Franco Girolami (Audi RS3) were able to put their car on pole for the third round of the 2024 TCR European Endurance season. After leading the pack in both free practice sessions, the Italian outfit also prevailed in qualifying, taking home their first pole position in the series promoted by Mauricio Slaviero on their second attempt. Behind the newly-formed pair, TEXACO Team AMS completed the top three, as Konukoǧlu/Brigliadori (Audi RS3) finished in second place ahead of their teammates Pinar/Özen (Audi RS3 Gen-1).
In Q1, Girolami set the pace right from the beginning, ultimately posting a time of 1:42.328 – the fastest lap of the entire weekend so far – to put his team at the top of the standings. Championship leader Eric Brigliadori (Audi RS3) was unable to take the fight to the 2022 TCR Europe champion, though the young Italian was still able to set the second fastest time in the opening session of the day. In third place was Özen (Audi RS3 Gen-1), as the older Gen-1 car was once again capable of finishing in the top three, whereas in the battle for fourth between the DSG cars, Stefano Comini (VW Golf DSG) secured fourth by lapping six tenths quicker than Ibrahim Okyay (Audi RS3 DSG).
After a ten-minute break, Q2 saw Pelatti (Audi RS3) gradually improve as time went on, as the Italian set the fastest lap of the session thanks to a 1:43.568 – thus securing pole for PMA Motorsport. Turgut Konukoǧlu (Audi RS3) followed up on Brigliadori’s good work earlier by finishing in second, ensuring TEXACO Team AMS a front row start for the third race of the season. The #3 Gen-1 Audi, entrusted during the second session to Barkin Pinar, was once again third quickest. In the DSG category, a last-minute effort from Seda Kaçan (Audi RS3 DSG) meant that the Turkish driver would snatch the class pole from the hands of Faro Racing, with Ottavio Cappelli (VW Golf DSG) ultimately missing out by just four tenths after the sum of the times.
The rest of today’s program will see both stages take place, as the third round of the season will wrap up on Saturday in order to let the drivers battle it out through the night. Stage one is scheduled to start at 17:00 local time, whereas part two will see the green flag at 20:55; the two stages will be broadcasted by TCR TV’s YouTube channel, with commentary provided by Daniele Spadi.
