Lynk & Co’s Yvan Muller took pole position for the first FIA World Touring Car Cup race at Ningbo in China on Saturday, edging out home hero Ma Qing Hua by less than a tenth of a second.
Frenchman Muller secured his first pole of the season in a tightly-fought session, as less than a second covered the top 21 cars around the 4 km circuit.
It also marks a home pole for the Lynk & Co, the Chinese manufacturer being run by Cyan Racing in the series.
“The first part of the job is done, now we have to confirm it in the race,” said Muller. “It will be difficult to overtake, but anything can happen. It will be an interesting race.”
First practice pace-setter Ma had to settle for second at his home race, just 0.050 seconds behind in the Team Mulsanne Alfa Romeo.
PWR Racing’s Mikel Azcona, fastest in second practice, put his CUPRA in third and will be joined on the second row of the grid by the Hyundai of Norbert Michelisz.
Johan Kristoffersson was the leading SLR Volkswagen driver in fifth, ahead of BRC’s Nicky Catsburg in sixth.
Comtoyou Racing’s Aurélien Panis was seventh in his CUPRA, ahead of the Hyundai of Augusto Farfus in eighth.
Championship leader Esteban Guerrieri was the best Honda driver in ninth, whilst PWR Racing’s Daniel Haglöf was tenth and made it three CUPRAs in the top ten.
Race one gets underway at 15:40 local time (08:40 BST 09:40 CEST).
Qualifying result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 100 | Yvan MULLER |  |
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 11 | 1:50.848 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 55 | Ma QING HUA |  |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 12 | 1:50.898 | 0.050 |
| 3 | 96 | Mikel AZCONA |  |
PWR Racing | CUPRA TCR | 12 | 1:50.988 | 0.140 |
| 4 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 9 | 1:51.015 | 0.167 |
| 5 | 14 | Johan KRISTOFFERSSON |  |
SLR Volkswagen | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 9 | 1:51.118 | 0.270 |
| 6 | 88 | Nicky CATSBURG |  |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 1:51.255 | 0.407 |
| 7 | 21 | Aurélien PANIS | |
Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing | CUPRA TCR | 11 | 1:51.309 | 0.461 |
| 8 | 8 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 1:51.406 | 0.558 |
| 9 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 11 | 1:51.427 | 0.579 |
| 10 | 37 | Daniel HAGLÖF | |
PWR Racing | CUPRA TCR | 9 | 1:51.493 | 0.645 |
| 11 | 10 | Niels LANGEVELD | |
Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 10 | 1:51.521 | 0.673 |
| 12 | 111 | Andy PRIAULX |  |
Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 11 | 1:51.526 | 0.678 |
| 13 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK | |
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 13 | 1:51.557 | 0.709 |
| 14 | 31 | Kevin CECCON |  |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 10 | 1:51.575 | 0.727 |
| 15 | 22 | Frédéric VERVISCH |  |
Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 11 | 1:51.652 | 0.804 |
| 16 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | |
Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 10 | 1:51.749 | 0.901 |
| 17 | 12 | Rob HUFF | |
SLR VW Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 10 | 1:51.791 | 0.943 |
| 18 | 29 | Néstor GIROLAMI | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 8 | 1:51.807 | 0.959 |
| 19 | 25 | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
SLR VW Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 1:51.809 | 0.961 |
| 20 | 33 | Benjamin LEUCHTER |  |
SLR Volkswagen | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 1:51.826 | 0.978 |
| 21 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
KCMG | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 11 | 1:51.847 | 0.999 |
| 22 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY | |
Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 10 | 1:51.868 | 1.020 |
| 23 | 1 | Gabriele TARQUINI | |
BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 1:52.026 | 1.178 |
| 24 | 9 | Attila TASSI | |
KCMG | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 11 | 1:52.099 | 1.251 |
| 25 | 50 | Tom CORONEL | |
Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing | CUPRA TCR | 11 | 1:52.162 | 1.314 |
| 26 | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 10 | 1:52.590 | 1.742 |