Tiago Monteiro took Honda’s first pole position of the new World Touring Car Championship season in Morocco, edging out Volvo’s Néstor Girolami by two tenths of a second.
Monteiro had been fastest in Q2, putting him last out on circuit in the one-shot showdown Q3 session. In the end the Portuguese racer had the better car in the second sector, allowing him to beat Polestar Cyan Racing’s Girolami by just over two tenths.
The result gives Monteiro his first pole position since his home race at Vila Real last year, and means he is the early championship leader after Saturday, taking home five bonus points.
“It feels great,” said Monteiro. “There’s no better way to start the season. It wasn’t easy, I had to give it all. It was a decent lap, I couldn’t have done much better, so I’m very happy with myself. The first step is done, and now tomorrow is the big day.”
Norbert Michelisz brought home the second works Honda in third, whilst independent Citroën duo Rob Huff and Mehdi Bennani failed to challenge for pole in their Münnich Motorsport and Sébastien Loeb Racing cars, with both drivers over half a second off the pace.
Nicky Catsburg was sixth, just missing out on Q3. The Dutchman had earlier in Q1 brought out the only red flags in the session when he made a mistake and had light contact with the wall, damaging his rear bumper.
Thed Björk ended up in seventh as the slowest of the three Cyan Racing Volvos, ahead of the second SLR Citroën of Tom Chilton in eighth.
Sunday’s reverse-grid Opening Race will see an unusual pair of names at the head of the field, as Ryo Michigami qualified in ninth and made the front row, whilst the sole independent LADA of Yann Ehrlacher was tenth, giving him a début pole.
Campos Racing’s Esteban Guerrieri was 11th, and ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Coronel was 12th, leaving the duo just outside of the reverse-grid top ten.
Neither Zengő Motorsport Hondas of Dániel Nagy or Aurélien Panis made the cut into Q2, with the duo sandwiching the third SLR car of John Filippi in 13th and 15th. Nagy in particular was unlucky to miss out on getting through, having got out of the car when he thought he was safe, before Coronel went quicker and knocked him out.
The Opening Race takes place at 16:35 BST (17:35 CEST) on Sunday, with the Main Race following at 17:45 BST (18:45 CEST).
Q3 results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 18 | Tiago Monteiro |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 3 | 1:21.792 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 61 | Néstor Girolami |  |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 3 | 1:22.031 | 0.239 | |
| 3 | 5 | Norbert Michelisz |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 3 | 1:22.097 | 0.305 | |
| 4 | 12 | T | Rob Huff |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 1:22.309 | 0.517 |
| 5 | 25 | T | Mehdi Bennani |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 1:22.412 | 0.620 |
Q2 results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 18 | Tiago Monteiro | |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 5 | 1:21.822 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 5 | Norbert Michelisz | |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 2 | 1:21.959 | 0.137 | |
| 3 | 61 | Néstor Girolami | |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 7 | 1:22.075 | 0.253 | |
| 4 | 25 | T | Mehdi Bennani | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 6 | 1:22.536 | 0.714 |
| 5 | 12 | T | Rob Huff | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 5 | 1:22.568 | 0.746 |
| 6 | 63 | Nicky Catsburg |  |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 6 | 1:22.692 | 0.870 | |
| 7 | 62 | Thed Björk |  |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 7 | 1:22.797 | 0.975 | |
| 8 | 3 | T | Tom Chilton | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 7 | 1:22.813 | 0.991 |
| 9 | 34 | Ryo Michigami |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 5 | 1:23.034 | 1.212 | |
| 10 | 68 | T | Yann Ehrlacher |  |
RC Motorsport | LADA Vesta WTCC | 7 | 1:23.063 | 1.241 |
| 11 | 86 | T | Esteban Guerrieri | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 7 | 1:23.228 | 1.406 |
| 12 | 9 | T | Tom Coronel | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 7 | 1:23.479 | 1.657 |
Q1 results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 5 | Norbert Michelisz | |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 6 | 1:22.161 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 63 | Nicky Catsburg | |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 6 | 1:22.271 | 0.110 | |
| 3 | 18 | Tiago Monteiro | |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 4 | 1:22.462 | 0.301 | |
| 4 | 12 | T | Rob Huff | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 7 | 1:22.601 | 0.440 |
| 5 | 61 | Néstor Girolami | |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 6 | 1:22.704 | 0.543 | |
| 6 | 62 | Thed Björk | |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 8 | 1:22.720 | 0.559 | |
| 7 | 25 | T | Mehdi Bennani | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 10 | 1:22.744 | 0.583 |
| 8 | 3 | T | Tom Chilton | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 6 | 1:23.176 | 1.015 |
| 9 | 86 | T | Esteban Guerrieri | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 12 | 1:23.220 | 1.059 |
| 10 | 34 | Ryo Michigami | |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 8 | 1:23.253 | 1.092 | |
| 11 | 68 | T | Yann Ehrlacher | |
RC Motorsport | LADA Vesta WTCC | 13 | 1:23.524 | 1.363 |
| 12 | 9 | T | Tom Coronel | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 9 | 1:23.628 | 1.467 |
| 13 | 99 | T | Dániel Nagy | |
Zengő Motorsport Kft | Honda Civic WTCC | 12 | 1:23.799 | 1.638 |
| 14 | 27 | T | John Filippi | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 9 | 1:24.043 | 1.882 |
| 15 | 8 | T | Aurélien Panis | |
Zengő Motorsport Kft | Honda Civic WTCC | 11 | 1:24.399 | 2.238 |