Yvan Muller expects a close race in Suzuka

Yvan Muller led both Practice sessions and was fastest in both Q1 and Q2, but failed to take pole position in the last segment of qualifying. The Frenchman explained that fellow Citroën drivers are very close together and although he tried his best he narrowly missed on pole position in Q3.

“I did exactly the same lap in Q3 as I did in Q2,” said the Frenchman. “I tried to push a little more in Turn 15 and I probably lost something, I knew José María López’s lap time and I had to improve on that and it just didn’t work. I am still pleased with second place because after Testing I was very worried about the car and didn’t understand what was wrong with it, but we came back to our strong form and I’m happy about that.”

Muller expects a close fight during the race as the three Citroëns are covered by just over a tenth:”We all have the same car and know each other’s set up, we work together and we are more or less on the same level, so I do expect some close racing. We will try to score a 1-2-3, hopefully in a different order compared to qualifying!”

Muller is now 94 points shy of team-mate José María López, who may win the title as early as Race 1 tomorrow.