There were contrasting emotions in the Citroën camp after World Touring Car Championship qualifying in Russia, with José María López ‘surprised’ to take pole and Yvan Muller ‘annoyed’ with sixth.
Championship leader López stormed to his third pole position of the season, topping both the Q2 and the all-important Q3 sessions at the Moscow Raceway. The Argentine admitted to being surprised to take pole, having been only eighth and seventh in the earlier practice sessions.
“I didn’t expect to find myself in pole position, particularly after free practice,” said a surprised López. “I was a little bit nervous, because this is a very demanding circuit and I don’t know all the ins-and-outs of it yet. There are some corners where it is hard to judge how the car is going to handle.
“I made progress by looking at the data from my teammates and I felt like I made a real breakthrough at the start of Q1. We all work together and we share information openly.”
The only other Citroën driver joining López in Q3 was Sébastien Loeb and despite qualifying fourth the former rally star admitted to making a plethora of mistakes.
“The car was sensitive to drive and I tried to attack too much,” admitted Loeb. “In Q3, I think I must have made at least one error per corner! I could definitely have done better, but it’s still a creditable result.”
López’s team-mate and title rival Muller admitted to being annoyed with himself after qualifying, with the Frenchman failing to make it through to Q3 for the first time in 2014.
“What can I say? I’m annoyed with myself,” said Muller. “I made two little mistakes at the start of Q2 and I didn’t manage to clock a convincing time. My tyres were gone, but I carried on to make sure I got a top-ten time. Then Tiago Monteiro produced a great lap and snatched 5th place off me. That’s racing…”
For the Moscow Raceway Citroën have expanded to a four-car operation and WTCC rookie Ma Qing Hua put in a strong display, qualifying his C-Elysée in ninth for his first race in the championship. It also means Ma will start the second race from the front row of the grid, alongside pole-sitter Hugo Valente.
“It was a good start for me in my first race with Citroën Racing,” said a pleased Ma. “The conditions changed a lot from one session to the next. I think that is particularly difficult for me due to my lack of experience. I ran into a lot of traffic in Q2. Without that, I could have done better. But I’m in a good position for race 2, so it’s a positive result.”