GCK Bilstein's Anton Marklund has been left satisfied after showing promising pace at Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona. 
PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX
Despite missing out on a spot in the finals, the Swede's weekend got off to a promising start with a third-place finish in the first qualifier.
With the fastest drivers going first in Q2, Marklund would start in third-place alongside Timmy Hansen and Johan Kristoffersson on pole position. The funnel-like turn one saw four cars squeeze for the lead with Robin Larsson attempting an aggressive overtake around the outside, which basically put the squeeze on Marklund and Kristoffersson who was on the inside, ultimately seeing the latter go up on two wheels. Anton brought his Renault Megane home in third-place.
Q3 saw Anton line up on pole alongside Gronholm, Ide, and Bennett. Putting down a fight for position with Gronholm but lacking grip, Marklund finished the race in second with a 10th fastest time overall putting the Swede in eighth and onto the second row of the semi-finals.
With the Hansen's making it through turn one in the lead ahead of Gronholm. Marklund and Larsson fought all the way into turn 3, where the Swede opted to take the joker lap and come out at the tail end of the field. The GCK Bilstein driver fought back to jump Robin Larsson, but it wasn't enough to get of Gronholm for the final spot in the final.
"Bilstein has put in a new evolution of the damper since the last round and this hard work has really paid off, the car feels great which I think we proved with our practice time and the p3 in Q1," Marklund said. "Q2 and Q3 were more of a struggle with significant impact in Q2 and some miscalculations in Q3, which had us miss out on the first row of the semi-finals."
"The car felt fantastic again in the semi-finals and we just missed out on a spot in the final having got stuck in a little bit of traffic. P4 today feels great though because I can really feel the potential of the car for tomorrow now."
Written By - Junaid Samodien
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