Jimmy Clairet will have a tough ask to defend his 24-point lead in the championship standings, after qualifying down in 15th for both of the weekend’s races at Misano, not helped by the characteristics of the circuit not favouring the Audi RS 3, but also a recent revision to the TCR Balance of Performance measures, which have affected both CUPRA and Audi this weekend.

Clairet’s brother and team-mate Teddy made it through to Q2, and was able to salvage the reversed grid pole position, but Jimmy missed the cut and qualified in 15th, which is where he’s set to start both of the races, in the final position which awards points in the race.

“It’s difficult to know what to say, as I’m a bit disappointed,” said Clairet. “Starting in P15 will be really difficult. I’m sorry to talk about it, but the BoP change this weekend has not helped us for sure.

“We’ll have to do our best to finish the race, score some points and survive, and wait until the Red Bull Ring to see if there’s some further changes. So now, to stay out of trouble, and get some points, that’s the goal this weekend.”