Photo: WTCC Media

José María López storms to pole position in Japan

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Citroën Racing’s José María López has taken his sixth pole position of the season and the 20th of his World Touring Car Championship career in Motegi, leading a Citroën 1-2-3 with closest title rival Tiago Monteiro qualifying fourth for Honda.

After setting the best time in both the first segments of qualifying, producing the first time in the 1:55s of the weekend in Q2, the Argentinian topped each sector in the one-lap shootout to secure pole position and another five points to his championship tally with an even quicker time of 1:55.602, just six-thousandths of a second off of Norbert Michelisz’s lap record from last year.

Yvan Muller was his closest rival, eight-tenths of a second behind in the sister Citroën C-Elysée WTCC, with Mehdi Bennani third in the Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroën , picking up an extra point in the independents’ battle against team-mate Tom Chilton, who qualified in fifth.

Mixing it up with the Citroëns in the top five shootout was Honda’s Tiago Monteiro, who qualified in fourth position in the Civic, while team-mates Rob Huff and Norbert Michelisz aborted their final runs in the last part of Q2 in order to take advantage of the reversed grid, with Michelisz finishing tenth and Huff ninth, meaning that Michelisz will start on pole for the reversed grid opening race ahead of Huff, with Thed Björk starting behind them in the Polestar Volvo.

After setting the fastest times in both practice sessions, there was disappointment for the other Polestar Cyan Racing car of Néstor Girolami , when a late improvement from the independent Citroën of Tom Chilton knocked him of the top five and out of the pole position shootout, with the Argentine having to settle for sixth.

Nicky Catsburg was the best-placed of the Ladas in seventh, after a flawed strategy call by the team saw them leave Hugo Valente and Gabriele Tarquini in the pits to save tyres, but due to a flurry of late improvements, both drivers quickly toppled out of the top 12.

Honda newcomer Ryo Michigami will start 15th on his WTCC debut, while Tom Coronel was unable to set a competitive time shaking down his newly installed engine, and will start both races from 19th in his ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet Cruze.