Citroën’s José María López smashed the World Touring Car Championship lap record around the Nürburgring Nordschleife to take pole position by 3.573 seconds from team-mate Yvan Muller.
López’s best time came at the end of a red-flag interrupted session, with the Argentine’s time of 8 minutes 35.541 seconds being nearly two seconds faster than the pole time from 2015.
“I enjoyed it a lot, and I found the confidence in the last few runs,” said López. “This is team work, it’s not only me. Of course I try to do my best, but when I feel comfortable in the car it’s very important. It was a very good lap, and I had the confidence that I was already P1, so I thought I could try a bit more. I think with the low fuel and everything it all came together.”
Muller, who himself improved on his last run, was left to settle for second, ahead of ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Coronel in third, who was ecstatic with his lap to be the best independent driver around the legendary circuit.
Norbert Michelisz was the leading Honda driver in fourth, just over five seconds slower than López, with Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Tom Chilton in fifth.
LADA’s Nicky Catsburg posted a fast lap in the closing seconds of the session to take sixth, having earlier been baulked on his previous attempt by the crash of team-mate Hugo Valente ahead. The resulting double yellow flags – which were lifted as Catsburg approached – meant he had to lift off the throttle and lost the edge on his lap.
Polestar Cyan Racing’s Thed Björk was seventh thanks to a late improvement, ahead of Honda’s Rob Huff in eighth, who managed to keep his Civic on the asphalt, unlike in either of the free practice sessions.
Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Mehdi Bennani and Honda’s Tiago Monteiro completed the top ten, giving the Portuguese driver pole position for the opening race on Saturday, with Bennani alongside.
The second Polestar Volvo of Fredrik Ekblom qualified in 11th, although the Swede will start the opening race from the back of the grid anyway due to an engine change on his car.
Valente, whose LADA was pitched into the barriers at Tiergarten seemingly by a mechanical failure, ended up 13th. The damage to his LADA Vesta saw his front-left wheel barely attached following the impact with the Armco.
Nordschleife expert Sabine Schmitz ended up in 14th position, 12.840 seconds off the pace, but ahead of fellow Chevrolet racer John Filippi, who was 15th.
Qualifying had earlier featured a delay when one of the European Touring Car Cup drivers Ulrike Krafft crashed her 1600cc Ford Fiesta heavily and required recovery by an ambulance. The WTCC and ETCC drivers were sharing the track during the hour-long session, with WTCC teams giving space to ETCC competitors after their initial runs.
MAC3
Honda won the Manufacturers Against the Clock (MAC3) contest with a collective time of 8 minutes 47.920 seconds, although the result looked far from convincing as the lap progressed.
In the end, Citroën, who again nominated Mehdi Bennani to join in their run, were second, 1.564 seconds behind their Japanese rivals. This was despite posting faster times in Sector on and four.
A loss of nearly a second in Sector three contributed to their failure to beat Honda, although with the first sector time apparently nearly nine seconds faster than Honda and unaccounted for, the result remains provisional.
LADA did not take part in the time trial due to the damage caused to Valente’s car with his earlier accident.
Qualifying results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 37 | José María LÓPEZ |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 8:35.541 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 68 | Yvan MULLER |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 8:39.114 | 3.573 | |
| 3 | 9 | T | Tom CORONEL |  |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 3 | 8:40.067 | 4.526 |
| 4 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 3 | 8:40.578 | 5.037 | |
| 5 | 3 | T | Tom CHILTON |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 8:41.163 | 5.622 |
| 6 | 10 | Nicky CATSBURG | |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 3 | 8:42.422 | 6.881 | |
| 7 | 62 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 3 | 8:42.482 | 6.941 | |
| 8 | 12 | Rob HUFF | |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 3 | 8:43.559 | 8.018 | |
| 9 | 25 | T | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 8:44.466 | 8.925 |
| 10 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 3 | 8:45.405 | 9.864 | |
| 11 | 61 | Fredrik EKBLOM | |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 3 | 8:45.432 | 9.891 | |
| 12 | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 3 | 8:46.000 | 10.459 | |
| 13 | 7 | Hugo VALENTE | |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 1 | 8:47.147 | 11.606 | |
| 14 | 8 | T | Sabine SCHMITZ |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 3 | 8:48.381 | 12.840 |
| 15 | 27 | T | John FILIPPI | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 3 | 8:48.687 | 13.146 |
| 16 | 11 | T | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 8:51.426 | 15.885 |
| 17 | 55 | T | Ferenc FICZA | |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 2 | 8:56.037 | 20.496 |