Chevrolet drivers once again locked out the front row in qualifying, with Switzerland’s Alain Menu and France’s Yvan Muller taking the top spots for race one.
Menu, although still technically a title contender, has however admitted that he is not racing with the championship in mind as he is currently 80 points behind leader Muller with only 25 available for a win.
Several drivers have also expressed their concern that overtaking will be difficult around the short Suzuka East circuit, and Menu believes that starting from pole is crucial in those conditions.
“To start from pole will be crucial tomorrow as this is a circuit where overtaking in race conditions will be difficult, and a good start can simply mean victory,” said Menu, 48. “I will focus in doing the best I can and scoring a maximum of points, not thinking about the championship at all, as my chances are realistically small. But I won’t give up until mathematics say they’re gone!”
“I am very happy with pole position. I posted my fastest time in my first attempt with my first set of tires, and it wasn’t a perfect lap, as I ran a little bit wide in the sequence of turns 7 and 8. I could never imagine that that lap was going to mean pole position at the end of the session!”
Current series leader Mullerwas not entirely happy with his set-up, but admitted that being ahead of team-mate Rob Huff was the most significant thing in the battle for the overall championship.
“First of all, I must congratulate Alain, he did an impressive job today,” said the Frenchman. “I wasn’t entirely happy with the balance of my car, so we did some changes in the set up in between the two sets of tires. There was some improvement, although the track was quite treacherous, but could not beat Alain’s time. Still, the most important is that I will start ahead of , which is key towards the championship.”
Huff, currently 16 points behind Muller in the championship battle, ended the day frustrated with his qualifying performance that saw him only able to qualify 4th, with the Volvo of Robert Dahlgren between him and his rival.
“The car felt quite good, but track conditions were tricky,” said Huff. “There is little more I could do, the pace to be upfront wasn’t there today. When I was told on the radio I had lost the third position, I pushed again but my tires were almost finished.”
Finally, making his WTCC and touring car début this weekend, is Japanese rally star Toshihiro Arai. Initially he qualified in 16th but later had his times disallowed for not stopping at the weigh bridge and thus he will start his first race from the very back of the grid.
“I am continuing my learning process of touring car racing and qualifying is certainly a very peculiar exercise,” admitted Arai. “I improved my times constantly during Q1, but fell short a couple of tenths from Q2, despite doing quite a good last lap behind Alain.”