RML saw its drivers, Yvan Muller and Tom Chilton, lock out the second row of the grid for the opening race of the weekend at Suzuka, Muller’s first non-top three start of the season.
Muller, who is on the cusp of securing his fourth World Touring Car Championship drivers’ made an uncharacteristic mistake whilst on his final flying lap in qualifying and thus was unable to qualify any higher than fourth, a result which moved him two points closer to winning the title.
“That was a tough session which didn’t go to plan,” said the Frenchman. “I got a good first lap – pace was good and the car was handling well but I knew I needed to improve with the Honda’s looking strong out there.
“Unfortunately I just didn’t get my second lap together and I ran into a deep slide at Turn 1 which ruined my chance of progressing. And that was it. So I start from 4th on the grid with some work to do.
“It’s frustrating because we had a good chance for pole today and because that’s the first time all year that I have qualified outside of the top three. But now I’ll discuss strategy with my engineer and we’ll of course give the race our best shot tomorrow. On the positive note I have collected another couple of points towards the championship from this position” Muller added.
Team-mate Chilton outqualified Muller for the second race in a row and was set for a front row start until the closing seconds when Alex MacDowall in the bamboo engineering Chevrolet Cruze demoted Chilton to the second row.
The three points Chilton gained for being third in qualifying means he has moved up to fourth in the drivers’ title, as he arrived joint fourth after his breakthrough victory at Sonoma Raceway.
“I had struggled a bit at through yesterday’s test and today’s practices – it’s very different in the Cruze compared to my running last year,” the former British Touring Car Championship Independents’ Champion said.
“Yvan has helped me a lot, and finally I followed his set up choices for qualifying. Now I’m over the moon to be third, because I did not expect such a result.
“Qualifying is so important here, not least because it is a tough track for overtaking but also third position is worth three points, which has helped me to climb to fourth in the Drivers’ Championship (whereas in Sonoma I was joint fourth with Nash). Now my goal is to score more points in both races tomorrow,” Chilton concluded.