Yvan Muller took his third consecutive pole position in qualifying for the World Touring Car Championship at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia this afternoon.
In a result that was not entirely unpredictable – following the Frenchman’s supreme pace in practice this morning – Muller ensured that his championship challenge remained on track as he once again outqualified main rival Robert Huff.
Qualifying for Race 1 – Muller takes fourth pole of the year
Muller was the fastest driver throughout Q2, with the Chevrolet driver’s fastest lap putting him more than 4 tenths faster than team-mate Rob Huff, who will line up alongside him for the first race.
Starting third is Gabriele Tarquini, who posted his only fast lap in the closing moments of the session. Initially good enough for the front row, the Italian was then demoted to third after Huff set a final fast lap.
Alongside Tarquini on the second row of the grid is Tiago Monteiro, 0.620 seconds off pole.
Tom Coronel posted a fast lap late in the session to go fifth fastest, demoting Alain Menu, who had been in third, to sixth.
The top Yokohama Indpendent driver was Norbert Michelisz in seventh after pushing Javier Villa Garcia down to eighth in the closing minutes of the session. Franz Engstler and Michel Nykjær round out the top ten.
Qualifying for Race 2 – Engstler takes pole again
Following his pole-to-win victory last time out in Germany, Franz Engstler has once again taken pole position for the second race in Valencia tomorrow (Sunday).
Engslter was the tenth fastest driver in the first qualifying session, meaning that he benefits from the reverse grid for the second race. Alongside him on the front row of the grid will be Coronel after the Dutchman was ninth quickest.
Nykjaer crept into the top ten in the dying minutes of the session and as a result of his eighth fastest lap he will start from third for the second race. Alongside him is local driver Villa Garcia, who was as high as fourth fastest during the session.
Muller will start from fifth and considering his strong performances so far around the Spanish circuit is in a strong starting position. alongside him is Monteiro in sixth.
In seventh, and directly behind Muller on grid, is Huff who has Michelisz for company on the fourth row of the grid.
Alain Menu and Gabriele Tarquini round out the top ten for the second of tomorrow’s races, having been the fastest two drivers during the Q1 session.
Local driver Pepe Oriola spent much of the session inside the top ten. However a late charge from Nykjær meant that he was bumped out of the top ten and will start both of tomorrow’s races from 11th position.
Missing the cut altogether was Volvo’s Robert Dahlgren. After suffering an off and a turbo failure during practice, the Swede found himself entering qualifying without having had much track time. The best he could manage was 17th position.
Despite his earlier accident in second practice, Fabio Fabiani still made it into qualifying to go 20th and once again start at the back.