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Qualifying report

Qatar WTCC: Lopez clinches seventh pole of the season

Citroen driver Jose Maria Lopez took pole position for the last round of the 2015 World Touring Car Championship at Losail, Qatar.

Jose Maria Lopez, Citroën C-Elysée WTCC, Citroën World Touring Car team

Jose Maria Lopez, Citroën C-Elysée WTCC, Citroën World Touring Car team

Citroën Communication

Yvan Muller, Citroën C-Elysée WTCC, Citroën World Touring Car team
Sébastien Loeb, Citroën C-Elysée WTCC, Citroën World Touring Car team
Mehdi Bennani, Citroën C-Elysée WTCC, Sébastien Loeb Racing
Yvan Muller, Citroën C-Elysée WTCC, Citroën World Touring Car team
Ma Qing Hua, Citroën C-Elysée WTCC, Citroën World Touring Car team
Jose Maria Lopez, Citroën C-Elysée WTCC, Citroën World Touring Car team
Citroën World Touring Car team area
Jose Maria Lopez, Citroën C-Elysée WTCC, Citroën World Touring Car team, Tom Coronel, Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1, ROAL Motorsport

Lopez will head best-placed independents’ trophy driver Mehdi Bennani on the front row, with Sebastien Loeb securing a Citroen 1-2-3.

During the first part of qualifying, Lopez led the way with a time of 2m01.421s, with all the improvements coming late in the session as qualifying was the first track activity since last night.

As the grip level increased, the times tumbled and Lopez ended up the pacesetter ahead of Bennani and Ma Qing Hua.

Hugo Valente was again the closest challenger to the Citroens in his Campos Chevrolet, while Nicky Catsburg put in a late flyer to go fifth fastest in the Lada Vesta.

A persistent handling issue, however, saw 2012 champion Rob Huff fall out in Q1, qualifying down in 17th position, with the Chevrolets of Stefano D’Aste, Gregoire Demoustier, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Tom Chilton failing to make the cut, as did the Honda of Gabriele Tarquini, who qualified in a lowly 14th.

In Q2, with two minutes a lap and ten minutes to set a time, there was only really opportunity for one run for all drivers. 11 of the drivers set their times at the start of the session, with Lopez again topping the timesheets ahead of Campos Racing’s Valente.

Tiago Monteiro sat tenth for Honda, ahead of Lada’s Nicolas Lapierre 11th and set to take reverse-grid pole. However, Catsburg produced the third-fastest time late on, putting himself in the top-five shootout and knocking Monteiro down to 11th.

As a result, it was Campos Racing’s John Filippi who finished the session tenth and will start the reverse-grid second race from pole position, with Tom Coronel alongside, and Citroen’s Yvan Muller lining up third after qualifying just eighth, while Ma and Norbert Michelisz were seventh and sixth.

In the top-five shootout, Bennani set the first benchmark of 2m01.311s which couldn’t be bettered by the three cars that followed him, with Loeb, Valente and Catsburg all unable to improve on Bennani’s time.

However, series champion Lopez continued his form of the weekend in leading every session, as he set a time of 2m00.947s, the first driver under 2m01s, almost four-tenths of a second in the clear.

Qualifying results:

Pos. Driver Car Time Gap
Jose Maria Lopez Citroen 2'00.947  
Mehdi Bennani Citroen 2'01.311 0.364
Sebastien Loeb Citroen 2'01.525 0.578
Hugo Valente Chevrolet 2'01.542 0.595
Nicky Catsburg Lada 2'01.833 0.886
Norbert Michelisz Honda 2'02.073 1.126
Ma Qing Hua Citroen 2'02.194 1.247
Yvan Muller Citroen 2'02.573 1.626
Tom Coronel Chevrolet 2'02.801 1.854
10  John Filippi Chevrolet 2'02.803 1.856
11  Tiago Monteiro Honda 2'02.812 1.865
12  Nicolas Lapierre Lada 2'02.877 1.930
13  Stefano D'Aste Chevrolet 2'03.093 2.146
14  Gabriele Tarquini Honda 2'03.247 2.300
15  Gregoire Demoustier Chevrolet 2'03.335 2.388
16  Tom Chilton Chevrolet 2'03.362 2.415
17  Rob Huff Lada 2'03.487 2.540
18  Nasser Al-Attiyah Chevrolet 2'03.883 2.936

Neil Hudson / TouringCarTimes

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