José María López edged closer to his first World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) title in Suzuka, Japan, by pipping Citroën team-mate Yvan Muller to pole position by just 0.075 seconds.
Reigning champion Muller had been fastest from Loeb in both Q1 and Q2, as well as both of the free practice sessions earlier in the morning. But in the decisive Q3 session it was champion-elect López who stole the show, posting a lap time of 2:05.439 around the Suzuka International circuit.
“It was definitely one of the tightest qualifying sessions of the season, but eventually it went well for me, although it was tough,” said López. “Sector one was the one posing me most problems, but when I heard on the radio that I had done quite a good time, I started pushing and thinking I might have a chance. Tomorrow is going to be another day, I don’t want to think about it much. So far, I have worked as usual throughout the weekend and that is what I will do tomorrow as well. The rest… will happen if it is in God’s will…”
Sébastien Loeb qualified in third, ending the session 0.151 seconds off his team-mate López.
Two Chevrolet drivers made it into Q3, with ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Chilton leading the way, 0.882 seconds off the pace. Campos Racing’s Hugo Valente also made it into the final qualifying segment for the third time this season and was fifth.
Zengő Motorsport’s Norbert Michelisz was sixth and the top Honda driver, in a session where the Japanese manufacturer struggled at its home event.
Münnich Motorsport’s Gianni Morbidelli qualified in seventh, heading up a Chevrolet trio, with ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Coronel in eighth and Campos Racing’s Dušan Borković in ninth.
Honda guaranteed themselves a reverse-grid pole for race two at their home circuit by taking the bottom three positions in Q2. Gabriele Tarquini will start Sunday’s second race from pole, whilst Tiago Monteiro and Proteam Racing’s Mehdi Bennani will be forced to start from 11th and 12th positions respectively for both races, having been more than two seconds off the pace.
Around the long 5.807 km Suzuka circuit all three LADAs were more than two seconds off the pace, with Rob Huff heading James Thompson and Mikhail Kozlovskiy in 13th, 14th and 15th places.
Liqui Moly’s Franz Engstler again topped the TC2 class ahead of Campos Racing’s John Filippi and Liqui Moly team-mate Filipe Clemente de Souza. The second Campos car of Henry Kwong failed to post a time in the session.
Session results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 37 | TC1 | José María LÓPEZ |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 2:05.439 | |
| 2 | 1 | TC1 | Yvan MULLER |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 2:05.514 | 0.075 |
| 3 | 9 | TC1 | Sébastien LOEB | |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 2:05.590 | 0.151 |
| 4 | 3 | TC1 | Tom CHILTON |  |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 3 | 2:06.321 | 0.882 |
| 5 | 7 | TC1 | Hugo VALENTE | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 3 | 2:06.703 | 1.264 |
| The below times are from Q2: | |||||||||
| 6 | 5 | TC1 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 4 | 2:06.865 | 1.353 |
| 7 | 10 | TC1 | Gianni MORBIDELLI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 3 | 2:06.906 | 1.394 |
| 8 | 4 | TC1 | Tom CORONEL |  |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 3 | 2:06.993 | 1.481 |
| 9 | 98 | TC1 | Dušan BORKOVIĆ |  |
NIS Petrol by Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 3 | 2:07.132 | 1.620 |
| 10 | 2 | TC1 | Gabriele TARQUINI | |
Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda Civic WTCC | 3 | 2:07.305 | 1.793 |