Marco Butti was delighted following his first pole position in the TCR Europe series, setting the pace in a damp-to-wet qualifying session at the German circuit in his MM Motorsport Honda Civic Type R to secure the Pole Position Award by TR Watches.

The Italian is driving in a different car this weekend, borrowing the car of Michael Bartoszuk from the team’s TCR Italy campaign after Butti’s car was severely damaged in a late-race crash three weeks’ ago at Spa-Francorchamps, but came out on top in qualifying, just ahead of Italian rival Nicola Baldan.

"It was a not an easy one, as the rain came in Q2 so we only had one lap to do our best lap,” said Butti. “We also had to make sure we didn’t do any mistakes, as it’s very difficult with the track limits here at Hockenheim circuit, but we’re really happy, the team worked hard to have the pole.

“We’re really strong in the races, but today we also showed to the others we can also be the fastest car in qualifying. We need the points now to be at the top of the championship before we go to Misano in Italy.”