Spaniard Pepe Oriola secured himself a second row start for the 200th World Touring Car Championship race after qualifying at Suzuka.
The Spanish youngster set the seventh fastest time in the important second part of qualifying which gives him a fourth row start for the rolling start and the outside of row two for the standing start.
In the 10 minute qualifying two segment, Oriola was able to get a single clear lap for his qualifying attempt and despite making a small mistake on his lap, he finished seventh with a 53.365s lap, leaving him 0.479s off Pole Position.
The 19 year-old had set an identical time to Tiago Monteiro in the Honda Civic but by vertue of setting it after the Portuguese driver, he lines up behind him.
“I’m happy because the car is behaving perfectly, we managed to complete our work program and are pleased with the results achieved,” explains the Barcelona-based youngster.
“I only had one clean lap in Q2 in which I made a small mistake, but our ideal lap put us in third place, so we are pleased because we are very competitive.”
“Tomorrow I start from seventh in the first race, so our goal is to pull forward. In the second race, we depart from fourth, so I’m looking to finish on the podium,” he concluded.