Thed Björk says that everything ‘just came together’ after he secured his maiden World Touring Car Championship pole position at Monza, with the Swede predicting a challenging Main Race on Sunday.
Having also topped the times in the preceding second practice session, Björk then went on to post the second-best time in Q1 before leading a Volvo top three in Q2.
With no slipstreaming benefit in Q3, Björk proved that he has the outright pace to claim pole, despite small mistakes from a couple of other drivers also benefitting him in the showdown.
“Slipstreaming can give you a lot of straight-line speed, but I was focussing on getting into Q3 by myself,” said Björk to TouringCars.Net. “I was really happy to get through to Q3 because there is no slipstream and it is the same for everybody.
“I don’t know why, but I’ve just felt great since the beginning of the day. It was such a nice qualifying – all three parts. It just came together with this time. Last year I made it into Q3 and I pushed a little bit too hard, but now it felt like I should be there.”
The Swede, who becomes the 25th different pole-sitter in the WTCC, believes that Sunday’s two races will prove to be exciting due to the unique challenges of the fast Monza circuit.
“I think the races tomorrow will be really interesting, because here at Monza you can overtake during the whole race,” added Björk. “The tyres are so good, so you can really keep pushing the whole race long.
“In the Main Race it’s not going to be as easy as at some other tracks, because if you’re on pole and you make a good start, you’re in the lead, but here you’re going to have the other drivers in the slipstream with an advantage, so it will definitely be a tough race. I look forward to it.”