Alain Menu snatches pole at Marrakech

Chevrolet’s Alain Menu claimed his first pole position of 2012 in the final moments of qualifying, where he’ll start ahead of team-mate Rob Huff and the BMW of Tom Coronel.

The Swiss-driver’s lap of 1:43.901 in the second part of qualifying secured pole position for the Chevrolet Cruze, with a time one second faster than he had gone in the second free practice session where he was also the pace setter.

Rob Huff will start second, with Tom Coronel’s ROAL Motorsport BMW in third, with the Dutch driver’s time holding him at the top of the time sheet for much of the second segment of qualifying, and looked set for a possible surprise first pole position.

Championship leader Yvan Muller will start fourth, with Gabriele Tarquini the top placed SEAT for the Lukoil Racing Team in fifth.

Pepe Oriola was the leading independent driver in sixth, ahead of the Bamboo Engineering Chevrolet of Alex MacDowall.

The two Arena Motorsport Fords of Tom Chilton and James Nash made it into the second part of qualifying for the first time this year, with Chilton qualifying eighth and Nash 11th.

Tiago Monteiro qualified tenth and as a result the SUNRED León driver will start from pole position for the standing start race two with Liqui Moly Team Engstler’s team owner and driver Franz Engstler alongside, with former BTCC drivers Tom Chilton and Alex MacDowall starting on row two.

Independents’ Trophy points leader Stefano D’Aste didn’t set a lap in Q2 after breaking a driveshaft at the start of the session after running over the high kerbs in his Wiechers-Sport BMW, with Proteam Racing’s Isaac Tutumlu also breaking a driveshaft in Q1 in his BMW and going on to qualify in 20th.

Aleksei Dudukalo crashed out at the start of Q1 and was unable to set a competitive time and qualified in 22nd and last place, though will start 21st for race one after Alberto Cerqui will be dropped to the back of the grid for changing an engine in his ROAL BMW.