Russian Hansen Motorsport driver Timur Timerzyanov gains fastest time in first qualifying heat. Debut heat one win for Joni Wiman. Castoral returns to form in the TouringCars.

Despite the pressure of having a championship to lose the Russian points leader Timur Timerzyanov reaffirmed his dominance in the Championship driving in a fastest race time and leading day one after the summer break. The Russian fought off French, American and British challenges and undeniably has one hand on the weekend win. Timerzyanov took his heat win early, after being seeded lower down after an off-pace performance in the official timed practice earlier this afternoon. His drive was ‘Hansen-esque’ brutally quick off the line, smooth and without any imperfections. The closest finisher came in the form of the Frenchman Davy Jeanney. Jeanney was able to beat Tanner Foust off the line, and retained his early lead with the reward of a second fastest race time. The American finished third fastest, with Liam Doran in fourth and Lysen in fifth.

Take a bow Joni Wiman. The Set Promotion supported driver gained a debut win in the Super1600 class. The Finn made the quick move from the JRX cup this weekend, and gained a time almost two seconds faster than any other driver in his division. Rakhmatullin finished second and Rene Munnich third. But neither was able to top Wiman’s time. The Finn recorded an impressive individual lap time of 39.807 – nearing SuperCar level.  Usual performers Bakkerud and Skorupski finished sixth and seventh. Clemens Meyer was the only non-finisher in the 37 car strong division.

Czech campaigner Roman Castoral knocked early leader Anton Marklund off the top of the TouringCar rankings after a quick heat one performance. Marklund was narrowly slower than the Czech, Pedro Bonnet narrowly slower than Marklund in a tightly fought TouringCar contest. Koen Pauwels was the second home driver to finish in the top five in fourth, with Robin Larsson in fifth.

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