Eric Gené has put himself firmly in the frame to ascend to the lead of the TCR Europe drivers’ standings after claiming his first TR Watches Pole Position Award at the Red Bull Ring in an ultra-tight session, with 19 cars covered by just a second in the first part of qualifying.

The 18-year-old has jumped ahead of JImmy Clairet to second in the standings after grabbing pole position ahead of the Audi of Nicolas Taylor, the first pole for CUPRA since Franco Girolami took pole exactly a year ago at Brno.

He was able to take pole even though his final lap time was deleted due to one of many tracks limit violations handed out by the stewards to the drivers in the field during qualifying.

“My last lap was also a really good lap, so it was a shame about the track limits in Turn 9, I think it was just centimetres, but I’m really happy with this pole position,” said Gené.

With title rivals Jimmy and Teddy Clairet qualifying tenth and 16th respectively, Gené’s hoping for a strong race this afternoon in terms of the championship.

“It should be a calm race as Teddy and Jimmy are a bit at the back, but I have (Marco) Butti just behind me on the grid at the start, and Taylor was just half a tenth behind me and he’s not directly a title contender, so in terms of the championship it could be a calm race, but it’ll definitely be an interesting race.”

Gené claimed his first official podium last time out at Misano, after losing a podium result earlier in the year in Portugal, and has been edging ever closer in the drivers’ standings in his Monlau Motorsport-run CUPRA.

“CUPRA has done a great job all year. It was a shame in Portimao the contact we had with another driver. We struggled a bit in Spa, but also if you look at the FIA TCR World Tour, Aurélien is doing a really good job, so I think the CUPRA is performing really good. It’s true we’ve been getting better throughout the year though and I think we’re in very good shape.”