José María López beat Citroën team-mate Sébastien Loeb to pole position in qualifying for the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) on the streets of Vila Real, with Campos Racing’s Hugo Valente an impressive third fastest.
Championship leader López was in dominant form to take pole, which gives the Argentine an additional five-point advantage over rival Yvan Muller, who failed to make it into Q3.
Loeb ended up over half a second adrift of his team-mate in second, whilst Valente was again the top Chevrolet driver in third, the only other driver within a second of López in Q3.
Zengő Motorsport’s Norbert Michelisz ended the session in third as the top Honda driver, after works’ pilot Gabriele Tarquini made a mistake on his only run in Q3, leaving the veteran Italian in fifth.
Portuguese racer Tiago Monteiro was a disappointed sixth on the grid at his home event, with the Honda driver making a small mistake on his only lap in Q2 which ultimately cost him entry into Q3.
Nicky Catsburg was the top LADA driver in seventh, with team-mate Jaap van Lagen immediately alongside him on the grid for race one in eighth.
Completing the top ten, and starting on the front row of the grid for race two, are Citroën duo Muller, who appeared to have a problem on his only Q2 run, and Ma Qing Hua, who was heavily criticised by Tom Coronel after apparently blocking the Dutchman in Q1.
Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Mehdi Bennani missed out on the reverse grid and will start 11th for both races after hitting the wall with his right-rear. Nika Racing’s Néstor Girolami also made contact with the barriers early in Q2 due to a puncture, leaving him to start in 12th.
LADA’s Rob Huff missed out on entry into Q2 by just 0.003 seconds, leaving the Brit disappointed down in 13th. His LADA suffered broken bearings before qualifying and a team miscommunication resulted in the wrong wheels being repaired, leaving Huff struggling with an unpredictable car.
A quintet of Chevrolets propped up the timesheets, headed by Münnich Motorsport’s Stefano D’Aste in 14th. Coronel was 15th having lost time on his fast lap behind Ma, whilst his ROAL Motorsport team-mate Tom Chilton was 16th after losing his fastest lap due to exceeding the track limits.
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 | 1:58.515 | ||
| 2 | 9 | Sébastien LOEB |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 1:59.090 | 0.575 | |
| 3 | 7 | Y | Hugo VALENTE | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 3 | 1:59.333 | 0.818 |
| 4 | 5 | Y | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 3 | 2:00.023 | 1.508 |
| 5 | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda Civic WTCC | 2 | No time | N/A | |
| The following times are from Q2 | |||||||||
| 6 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda Civic WTCC | 3 | 2:00.349 | 1.170 | |
| 7 | 10 | Nick CATSBURG |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 4 | 2:01.724 | 2.545 | |
| 8 | 46 | Jaap VAN LAGEN | |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 4 | 2:02.187 | 3.008 | |
| 9 | 68 | Yvan MULLER | |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 4 | 2:39.871 | 40.692 | |
| 10 | 33 | MA Qing Hua |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 2 | 3:17.063 | 17.884 | |