Citroën’s José María López scored a sensational pole position in the first qualifying session of the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) season in Argentina, beating team-mate Yvan Muller by 1.240 seconds.
Argentine López was clearly the fastest driver in the field, edging Muller by a huge 1.240 seconds on his one-shot lap in Q3.
Sébastien Loeb was third fastest, having made a small mistake on his single lap. However the Frenchman’s time was nevertheless good enough for third.
Ma Qing Hua in fourth made it a works’ Citroën 1-2-3-4, despite having also made a mistake in the same place as Loeb by running wide. Honda’s Tiago Monteiro was fifth, more than two seconds off the pace, having confessed to also making a mistake on his only Q3 run.
ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Chilton was the best Chevrolet driver in sixth, missing out on entry into Q3 by just under a tenth of a second.
The second works’ Honda of Gabriele Tarquini was seventh, with the Italian having been unable to match team-mate Monteiro all weekend so far.
Stefano D’Aste impressed on his return to the WTCC by qualifying his Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet in eighth, ahead of ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Coronel.
LADA’s James Thompson will start race two on Sunday from pole position having qualified tenth. His team-mate Rob Huff was eleventh, where he will start both of Sunday’s races, despite having earlier been fastest in Q1.
Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Mehdi Bennani had been on the pace throughout Saturday, but an error in Q2 saw him spin off the track and beech his Citroën in the gravel. The Moroccan will thus start both of Sunday’s races from 12th.
Neither Zengő Motorsport’s Norbert Michelisz nor Campos Racing’s Hugo Valente posted a time in qualifying. Valente’s car was still being repaired after his earlier practice shunt. Michelisz suffered the loss of his front-left wheel during Q1 and failed to post a lap time.
Top ten times
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 37 | José María LÓPEZ |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 1:45.461 | ||
| 2 | 68 | Yvan MULLER |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 1:46.701 | 1.240 | |
| 3 | 9 | Sébastien LOEB | |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 1:47.061 | 1.600 | |
| 4 | 33 | MA Qing Hua |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 1:47.203 | 1.742 | |
| 5 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda Civic WTCC | 3 | 1:47.633 | 2.172 | |
| The following times are from Q2 | |||||||||
| 6 | 3 | Y | Tom CHILTON |  |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | – | 1:46.738 | 0.930 |
| 7 | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda Civic WTCC | – | 1:46.967 | 1.159 | |
| 8 | 26 | Y | Stefano D’ASTE | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | – | 1:47.120 | 1.312 |
| 9 | 4 | Y | Tom CORONEL |  |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | – | 1:48.322 | 2.514 |
| 10 | 15 | James THOMPSON | |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | – | 1:50.165 | 4.357 | |