MUGELLO (25 March, 2022) – BBR will start a 24H SERIES event from TCE pole position for the first time at the 2022 Hankook 12H MUGELLO after a strong showing from the all-Thai team in qualifying. 

The BBR CUPRA Leon Competición TCR (#159, Chariya Nuya / Kantadhee Kusiri / Kantasak Kusiri / Tanart Sathienthirakul) posted the fastest TCE times across all three 10-minute qualifying sessions, ending the division’s 30-minute qualifying session with an aggregate time of 1m 58.022s around the 5.245km Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello. This was more than a second clear of the front row starting Volkswagen Golf GTI of NOKER racing team Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR (#104, Kestutis Stasionis / Sten-Dorian Piirimägi / Jonas Karklys / Antti Rammo). 

The Thai team’s first TCE pole position in the 24H SERIES comes just one round after its first division win at the Hankook 24H DUBAI.

“I’m very happy with P1 and the team gave us a perfect car to get the perfect lap,” Kantadhee Kusiri explained to radiolemans.com’s Diana Binks. “This is our second time here at Mugello, so we know the track, and also the team has a lot of experience with the TCR car, so it’s quite easy for us to get in and drive quickly. My teammates also did a really good job. I can’t wait to race tomorrow, where, hopefully, we can keep the position to the end.”

A storming lap in the final 10-minute session propelled the Wolf-Power Racing Wolf-Power Racing Audi RS3 LMS (#116, Jasmin Preisig / Marcus Menden / Ivars Vallers) onto the second row of the TCE grid. Together with Autorama Motorsport, the Swiss team has secured the three previous Overall TCE Teams’ championships, though Mugello marks Wolf-Power’s first standalone entry of the 2022 24H SERIES season. 

Behind the Holmgaard Motorsport Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR (#102, Magnus Holmgaard / Jonas Holmgaard / Roy Edland / Martin Vedel Mortensen), series newcomer Valluga (#205, Bradley Ellis / Leo Loucas / Rhea Loucas / Charles Hollings) secured TCX class pole position with its Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS, pipping the Ligier JS2 R of category rival SK Racing (#215, Franck Eburderie / Franco Lemma / Jérôme Dacosta / Franck Lavergne) in the process. 

Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport rounds out the overall top 10 in the TCE division, the team’s #331 BMW M2 CS Racing (#331, Rainer Partl / Hermann Bock / Martin Kroll / Michael Bonk) besting the sister #332 (Michael Mayer / Volker Piepmeyer / Jürgen Meyer / Michael Bonk) to take TC-class pole position. 

The green flag for the 2022 Hankook 12H MUGELLO is scheduled to fly on Saturday 26 March at 13.00 hrs local time, with the race running until 18.30 hrs that evening. After CREVENTIC’s traditional overnight ‘intervention’, the race will resume at 09.00 hrs on Sunday 27 March and will run uninterrupted thereafter until the chequered flag is flown at 15.30 hrs. The action will be live with commentary from radiolemans.com on the official 24H SERIES YouTube channel. Regular updates will also be published on Twitter (@24HSeries), Facebook (24H Series) and Instagram (24H Series). Further information can be found HERE.