Citroën’s Sébastien Loeb says that if he had one pole position to win in the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) “this would be it” after the Frenchman took his first legal pole position in the championship.
Loeb beat team-mates Yvan Muller and José María López to claim a first outright pole position in the WTCC, after his pole at the 2014 Race of France was stripped from the former rally star due to a technical breach.
Despite making a small mistake in sector three, most of Loeb’s gains came in the final sector, with the Frenchman admitting that he was pushing hard due to the predicted small gaps on the short circuit.
“It was really intense for sure because we saw already from the start of qualifying and knowing from before that here it would be very, very tight,” said Loeb. “You have to be nearly over the limit all of the time, not making any mistakes and you have to take some risks, which is what I did.
“Finally I made a clean lap, just a little mistake in corner nine but finally I gained some time because of that. I pushed really hard into the entry, lost the car a bit, but I could keep the line. I made the difference in the last sector, so maybe it was good to do it like this.”
As well as his first pole of the season, Loeb was relieved to be able to perform so well on home soil and hopes to be able to continue his form into Sunday’s races.
“I am really happy to achieve [pole position] in France especially,” added Loeb. “It’s always difficult for me since the start of the season, and last year, to fight with my two team-mates in qualifying because they are always able to put everything together and I am struggling. But today I was able to do it and I’m really happy for that. I hope I can continue like that in the races.”
Citroën Racing Team Principal Yves Matton praised the qualifying result, which saw the works Citroën cars achieve the perfect 1-2-3-4 result, with China’s Ma Qing Hua in fourth.
“We’ve got a great result thanks to the hard work of the team and the healthy competition between drivers,” said Matton. “Sébastien Loeb and Yvan Muller wanted to shine in front of their home crowd and, sure enough, they will be lining up on the front row, although Pechito López very nearly spoiled their party!
“Just behind our three World Champions, Ma Qing Hua is continuing to improve and has consistently shown an impressive turn of speed. We are also glad to see [Sébastien Loeb Racing’s] Mehdi Bennani on pole position for race two, and we hope that will lead to a good result for him tomorrow.”