Polestar Cyan Racing’s Thed Björk took his and Volvo’s first-ever pole position in a close qualifying for the World Touring Car Championship at Monza, ahead of Honda’s Tiago Monteiro.
Having also been fastest in Q2, Björk was the last of the top five drivers to take to the circuit in the one-shot showdown Q3 session.
The Swede showed strong pace throughout the lap, despite almost exceeding track limits on the exit of the Parabolica, to secure both his and Volvo’s first pole, by a comfortable 0.316 seconds.
Honda’s Monteiro was classified in second, although the Portuguese driver is under investigation for having possibly exceeded track limits on his lap.
Münnich Motorsport’s Rob Huff, who was first out, ended up third, after mistakes from the Polestar Volvos of fourth-placed Nicky Catsburg and fifth-placed Néstor Girolami, who overshot the second chicane at Seconda Variante on his only lap.
The second factory Honda of Norbert Michelisz was sixth fastest, after the team apparently missed the window of opportunity to allow the Hungarian another flying lap in the closing seconds of Q2.
Tom Chilton was the leading Sébastien Loeb Racing driver in seventh, ahead of Campos Racing’s Esteban Guerrier in eighth, who was the top Chevrolet racer.
Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Mehdi Bennani and ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Coronel completed the top ten, the latter gaining the reverse-grid pole position for the Opening Race after a late improvement brought him into the top ten.
Japanese Honda driver Ryo Michigami and independent LADA racer Yann Ehrlacher missed out on the top ten and qualified in 11th and 12th place respectively for Sunday’s races.
John Filippi was the first driver to miss out on entry into Q2, putting his Citroën in 13th, ahead of Aurélien Panis, Kevin Gleason and Dániel Nagy.
For Björk, the five extra points awarded for pole moves him up to third overall in the drivers’ championship standings on 30 points, behind works Honda duo Monteiro and Michelisz.
Q3 results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 62 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 3 | 1:52.505 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 3 | 1:52.821 | 0.316 | |
| 3 | 12 | T | Rob HUFF |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 1:52.968 | 0.463 |
| 4 | 63 | Nicky CATSBURG |  |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 3 | 1:53.013 | 0.508 | |
| 5 | 61 | Néstor GIROLAMI |  |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 3 | 1:57.834 | 5.329 |
Q2 results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 62 | Thed BJÖRK | |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 5 | 1:52.202 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO | |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 5 | 1:52.385 | 0.183 | |
| 3 | 63 | Nicky CATSBURG | |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 5 | 1:52.407 | 0.205 | |
| 4 | 61 | Néstor GIROLAMI | |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 3 | 1:52.488 | 0.286 | |
| 5 | 12 | T | Rob HUFF | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 4 | 1:52.523 | 0.321 |
| 6 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 5 | 1:52.606 | 0.404 | |
| 7 | 3 | T | Tom CHILTON | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 1:53.081 | 0.879 |
| 8 | 86 | T | Esteban GUERRIERI | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 5 | 1:53.404 | 1.202 |
| 9 | 25 | T | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 5 | 1:53.584 | 1.382 |
| 10 | 9 | T | Tom CORONEL | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 4 | 1:53.678 | 1.476 |
| 11 | 34 | Ryo MICHIGAMI |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 4 | 1:53.973 | 1.771 | |
| 12 | 68 | T | Yann EHRLACHER |  |
RC Motorsport | LADA Vesta WTCC | 2 | No time | N/A |
Q1 results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 61 | Néstor GIROLAMI | |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 7 | 1:52.218 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 62 | Thed BJÖRK | |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 7 | 1:52.284 | 0.066 | |
| 3 | 63 | Nicky CATSBURG | |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 6 | 1:52.404 | 0.186 | |
| 4 | 12 | T | Rob HUFF | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 7 | 1:52.754 | 0.536 |
| 5 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO | |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 8 | 1:52.922 | 0.704 | |
| 6 | 86 | T | Esteban GUERRIERI | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 8 | 1:53.016 | 0.798 |
| 7 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ | |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 7 | 1:53.267 | 1.049 | |
| 8 | 25 | T | Mehdi BENNANI | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 7 | 1:53.588 | 1.370 |
| 9 | 3 | T | Tom CHILTON | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 6 | 1:53.612 | 1.394 |
| 10 | 9 | T | Tom CORONEL | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 7 | 1:53.803 | 1.585 |
| 11 | 68 | T | Yann EHRLACHER | |
RC Motorsport | LADA Vesta WTCC | 8 | 1:54.059 | 1.841 |
| 12 | 34 | Ryo MICHIGAMI | |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 7 | 1:54.108 | 1.890 | |
| 13 | 27 | T | John FILIPPI | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 8 | 1:54.123 | 1.905 |
| 14 | 8 | T | Aurélien PANIS | |
Zengő Motorsport Kft | Honda Civic WTCC | 8 | 1:54.221 | 2.003 |
| 15 | 24 | T | Kevin GLEASON |  |
RC Motorsport | LADA Vesta WTCC | 8 | 1:54.978 | 2.760 |
| 16 | 99 | T | Dániel NAGY | |
Zengő Motorsport Kft | Honda Civic WTCC | 5 | 1:55.040 | 2.822 |