José María López scored his sixth pole position of the season in qualifying for the World Touring Car Championship at the Shanghai International Circuit, as Citroën provisionally secured the manufacturers’ title.
New champion López dominated the qualifying session, topping both the Q1 and Q2 sessions before going even faster in the pivotal Q3 part, ending up 0.161 seconds quicker than LADA’s Nicky Catsburg.
Yvan Muller put the second works’ Citroën in third, just over half a second slower than his team-mate, whilst Mehdi Bennani was the leading independent driver in fourth.
Having topped both practice sessions, Polestar Cyan Racing showed encouraging pace in qualifying, with Thed Björk making it through to Q3 and qualifying in fifth, 1.338 seconds off the pace.
LADA’s Gabriele Tarquini enjoyed his best qualifying result since the round in Russia in early June by putting his Vesta in sixth.
Fredrik Ekblom was seventh fastest, missing out on entry into Q3 by just two tenths of a second in what was Polestar’s best-ever qualifying session in the WTCC.
Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Tom Chilton was eighth fastest, whilst Honda’s Norbert Michelisz and Campos Racing’s John Filippi completed the top ten, the latter claiming his second reverse-grid pole position of the season.
Chevrolet drivers Tom Coronel, of ROAL Motorsport, and James Thompson, of Münnich Motorsport, just missed out on the front row for the Opening Race, qualifying in 11th and 12th respectively.
LADA’s Hugo Valente was 13th, whilst works’ Honda duo Tiago Monteiro and Rob Huff endured a disastrous session to end up in 14th and 15th respectively, despite running 20 kg lighter than in Japan.
“We knew it was going to be tight,” said a disappointed Monteiro. “It’s not such a surprise, but I’m very disappointed. We knew it would be tough to get into Q2, so we actually prepared for three runs because we knew we would need them.
“I made a small mistake in the last corner, but unfortunately it was enough to cost me a chance of getting into Q2.”
Zengő Motorsport duo Ferenc Ficza and Dániel Nagy will occupy the last row of the grid after being more than two seconds off the pace in their independent Hondas.
MAC3
Honda took their sixth win of the season, after Citroën failed to make the start when Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Bennani stopped on his way to the grid with a mechanical issue.
Not that Citroën needed the points, having just secured their third successive manufacturers’ title.
LADA thus bagged the points for second with a team effort that was just 0.295 seconds slower than Honda’s 3:49.103 effort.
Qualifying result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 37 | José María LÓPEZ |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 1:49.339 | ||
| 2 | 10 | Nicky CATSBURG |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 3 | 1:49.500 | 0.161 | |
| 3 | 68 | Yvan MULLER |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 1:49.911 | 0.572 | |
| 4 | 25 | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 1:49.944 | 0.605 | |
| 5 | 62 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 3 | 1:50.677 | 1.338 | |
| The following times are from Q2 | |||||||||
| 6 | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 5 | 1:50.393 | 0.869 | |
| 7 | 61 | Fredrik EKBLOM | |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 3 | 1:50.439 | 0.915 | |
| 8 | 3 | Tom CHILTON |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 1:50.498 | 0.974 | |
| 9 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 5 | 1:50.787 | 1.263 | |
| 10 | 27 | John FILIPPI | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 3 | 1:50.809 | 1.285 | |
| 11 | 9 | Tom CORONEL | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 5 | 1:50.825 | 1.301 | |
| 12 | 15 | James THOMPSON | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 5 | 1:50.971 | 1.447 | |
| The following times are from Q1 | |||||||||
| 13 | 7 | Hugo VALENTE | |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 8 | 1:51.399 | 1.120 | |
| 14 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 8 | 1:51.404 | 1.125 | |
| 15 | 12 | Rob HUFF | |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 8 | 1:51.523 | 1.244 | |
| 16 | 11 | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 8 | 1:51.848 | 1.569 | |
| 17 | 55 | Ferenc FICZA | |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 7 | 1:52.519 | 2.240 | |
| 18 | 99 | Dániel NAGY | |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 7 | 1:52.810 | 2.531 | |