Citroën’s José María López ended the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) season with his sixth pole position of the year in Qatar, going 0.364 seconds faster than Mehdi Bennani to remain unbeaten in Losail.
López was the last of the Q3 runners, having earlier topped both Q1 and Q2. The Argentine once again proved his pace by setting the pace in all four seconds to comfortably take pole ahead of the Moroccan racer.
By taking second, Bennani equalled his best-ever WTCC qualifying result, which was scored at his home round earlier in the year. The Sébastien Loeb Racing driver was the first out and remained on top until López put in a scintillating lap, leaving him to settle for second, ahead of team boss Sébastien Loeb in third.
Campos Racing’s Hugo Valente was the lead Chevrolet driver in fourth, 0.595 seconds off the pace in his fourth Q3 appearance of the season.
LADA’s Nicky Catsburg completed the Q3 times in fifth, having lost pace with a slight slide exiting Turn 13. The Dutchman had earlier only just got through to Q3, after leaving it until the closing seconds of Q2 to post his lap time.
Catsburg’s gain was Norbert Michelisz’s demise, as the Zengő Motorsport driver was edged out of Q3 and forced to settle for sixth, albeit as the leading Honda driver.
Works’ Citroën drivers Ma Qing Hua and Yvan Muller were seventh and eighth respectively, with the latter admitting to being uncertain as to why he is struggling against his team-mates in Losail.
Chevrolet drivers Tom Coronel and John Filippi completed the top ten and secured the front row of the grid for race two, marking the first-ever reverse grid pole for the young Campos Racing driver.
Honda’s Tiago Monteiro and LADA’s Nicolas Lapierre just missed out on the reverse grid and will start 11th and 12th respectively for both of Friday evening’s races.
Further back, Münnich Motorsport’s Stefano D’Aste was narrowly edged out of Q2 entry and will start from 13th, ahead of a disappointed Gabriele Tarquini in 14th, who continued to struggle with his Honda Civic in Qatar.
A shock exit from Q1 was the LADA of Rob Huff, who was over two seconds off the pace and faces starting both races from 17th on the grid.
Local racer Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah was 18th and last, 2.462 seconds off the pace in his older-spec Campos Chevrolet Cruze.
Race one begins at 21:30 local time (19:30 CET; 18:30 GMT).
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 | 2:00.947 | ||
| 2 | 25 | Y | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 2:01.311 | 0.364 |
| 3 | 9 | Sébastien LOEB |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 2:01.525 | 0.578 | |
| 4 | 7 | Y | Hugo VALENTE | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 3 | 2:01.542 | 0.595 |
| 5 | 10 | Nick CATSBURG |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 3 | 2:01.833 | 0.886 | |
| The following times are from Q2 | |||||||||
| 6 | 5 | Y | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 3 | 2:02.073 | 0.658 |
| 7 | 33 | MA Qing Hua |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 4 | 2:02.194 | 0.779 | |
| 8 | 68 | Yvan MULLER | |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 2:02.573 | 1.158 | |
| 9 | 4 | Y | Tom CORONEL | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 3 | 2:02.801 | 1.386 |
| 10 | 27 | Y | John FILIPPI | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 3 | 2:02.803 | 1.388 |