Rob Huff claimed pole position for Saturday’s first FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) race on the streets of Vila Real, heading Sébastien Loeb Racing team-mate Mehdi Bennani in a thrice red-flagged session.
Huff put his Volkswagen Golf on top of the times just before the first red-flag stoppage with a lap of 2:01.328, which came after 15 minutes when the bollard at the chicane just before Turn 17 was dislodged by Yann Ehrlacher.
The session then resumed for just five minutes before the second stoppage, during which time Huff went even quicker with a lap of 2:01.100.
The second, longer stoppage was required both to replace the bollard for a second time and also to recover the Alfa Romeo of Gianni Morbidelli, who had gone into the barriers at the same chicane.
After a seven-minute delay, the session got underway and Huff set what would be the final benchmark time of 2:00.924, ultimately ending up less than a tenth ahead of Bennani, who improved with 14 minutes left on the clock.
Another pause was then required with seven minutes to run, this time taking six minutes to get going again, as the chicane required further repairs to the bollard.
With just over two minutes left to run the session was finally called off when Leopard Lukoil’s Jean-Karl Vernay hit the wall and damaged his Audi’s front-right corner substantially, leaving Huff with the top time.
“Huge congratulations to the Sébastien Loeb Racing team and Volkswagen, and my team-mate Mehdi Bennani – what a performance to lock out the front row by such a tiny margin,” said Huff.
“The car was mega. We were a little bit quicker on the last lap when it just got red-flagged, but ultimately we did the job we needed to do, got pole, stayed out of trouble and stayed out of the walls and we got a front-row lock-out for this afternoon’s race.”
BRC Racing’s Norbert Michelisz was the leading Hyundai driver in third, the Hungarian having earlier been the first driver to top the times in the 40-minute session.
Münnich Motorsport’s Ehrlacher was the best of the Honda drivers in fourth, ahead of YMR pairing Thed Björk and Yvan Muller in fifth and sixth respectively, with Björk unable to replicate his practice-topping pace as he was regularly caught out by the stoppages.
Campos Racing’s John Filippi was the best of the CUPRA drivers in seventh, marking the first time since the season opener in Marrakech that the Corsican had cracked the top ten.
Münnich Motorsport’s Esteban Guerrieri was eighth, whilst BRC Racing’s Gabriele Tarquini and Leopard Lukoil’s Vernay completed the top ten, the latter as the best of the Audi drivers despite his session-ending accident.
Race one gets underway at 16:00 BST (17:00 CEST) later on Saturday.
Qualifying result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 2:00.924 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 25 | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 2:00.951 | 0.027 |
| 3 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 10 | 2:01.280 | 0.356 |
| 4 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 10 | 2:01.445 | 0.521 |
| 5 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
YMR | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 12 | 2:01.683 | 0.759 |
| 6 | 48 | Yvan MULLER | |
YMR | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 2:01.765 | 0.841 |
| 7 | 27 | John FILIPPI | |
Team Oscaro by Campos Racing | CUPRA TCR | 11 | 2:02.075 | 1.151 |
| 8 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 12 | 2:02.109 | 1.185 |
| 9 | 30 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 12 | 2:02.168 | 1.244 |
| 10 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY | |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 10 | 2:02.357 | 1.433 |
| 11 | 15 | James THOMPSON | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 9 | 2:02.540 | 1.616 |
| 12 | 66 | Zsolt Dávid SZABÓ | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 11 | 2:02.592 | 1.668 |
| 13 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Team Oscaro by Campos Racing | CUPRA TCR | 11 | 2:02.742 | 1.818 |
| 14 | 63 | Benjamin LESSENNES |  |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 10 | 2:02.882 | 1.958 |
| 15 | 7 | Aurélien COMTE | |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 10 | 2:02.942 | 2.018 |
| 16 | 9 | Tom CORONEL |  |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 10 | 2:03.211 | 2.287 |
| 17 | 23 | Nathanaël BERTHON | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 11 | 2:03.223 | 2.299 |
| 18 | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 9 | 2:03.333 | 2.409 |
| 19 | 22 | Frédéric VERVISCH | |
Audi Sport Team Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS | 9 | 2:03.390 | 2.466 |
| 20 | 88 | Fabrizio GIOVANARDI | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 11 | 2:03.412 | 2.488 |
| 21 | 21 | Aurélien PANIS | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 9 | 2:03.469 | 2.545 |
| 22 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 10 | 2:03.479 | 2.555 |
| 23 | 8 | Norbert NAGY | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 10 | 2:03.710 | 2.786 |
| 24 | 10 | Gianni MORBIDELLI | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 6 | 2:03.958 | 3.034 |
| 25 | 20 | Denis DUPONT | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 10 | 2:04.450 | 3.526 |
| 26 | 13 | Edgar FLORINDO |  |
Veloso Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 8 | 2:05.462 | 4.538 |
| 27 | 26 | José RODRIGUES | |
Target Competition | Honda Civic Type R FK2 TCR | 0 | No time | N/A |