Yvan Muller beat team-mate José María López to pole position in qualifying for the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) in Slovakia, as Citroën scored a 1-2-3 with Sébastien Loeb in third.
Muller put in a scintillating lap to edge out reigning champion López by over two tenths of a second and claim his third pole position of the season, equalling the Argentine’s tally.
López had earlier been fastest in Q1, but did not have the pace of Muller in Q2 or Q3, having to settle for second on the grid alongside his team-mate.
Last year’s race winner Loeb was third quickest, more than eight tenths adrift of the pole time, as he again struggled to match the pace of his team-mates.
LADA scored their best-ever WTCC qualifying result with Rob Huff in fourth, ahead of Nicky Catsburg in fifth, marking the first time that the Russian manufacturer has had two cars in the final Q3 segment.
Campos Racing’s Hugo Valente was once again the fastest Chevrolet driver in sixth, with the Frenchman missing out on entry into Q3 by 0.192 seconds.
The fourth works’ Citroën of Ma Qing Hua was seventh, with the Chinese driver lacking the pace of his team-mates throughout the weekend in his first visit to the Slovakian circuit. ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Chilton was eighth, just under a second off the Q2 pace.
Completing the top ten were Honda’s Gabriele Tarquini and LADA’s Jaap van Lagen, despite the Dutchman enduring a high-speed off through the turn two gravel. The duo will start race two from the front row, with Van Lagen set to enjoy his first-ever front row start in the championship.
Local driver Mato Homola just missed out on a dream reverse grid result, qualifying in an impressive 11th position on his début at the wheel of a 2014-spec Campos Cruze. The independent Citroën of Mehdi Bennani completed the Q2 drivers in 12th.
Honda were high-profile casualties in Q1, with independent Zengő Motorsport driver Norbert Michelisz missing the cut in 13th and works’ driver Tiago Monteiro down in 17th.
WTCC rookie Nestor Girolami managed just 18th and the slowest time of all in his Nika Racing Honda Civic, as Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Grégoire Demoustier failed to post a time due to the damage he sustained in second practice.
Top ten times
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 68 | Yvan MULLER |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 2:03.736 | ||
| 2 | 37 | José María LÓPEZ |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 2:03.959 | 0.223 | |
| 3 | 9 | Sébastien LOEB | |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 2:04.583 | 0.847 | |
| 4 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 3 | 2:04.598 | 0.862 | |
| 5 | 10 | Nick CATSBURG |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 3 | 2:04.905 | 1.169 | |
| The following times are from Q2 | |||||||||
| 6 | 7 | Y | Hugo VALENTE | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 3 | 2:04.858 | 0.610 |
| 7 | 33 | MA Qing Hua |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 3 | 2:05.012 | 0.764 | |
| 8 | 3 | Y | Tom CHILTON | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 3 | 2:05.108 | 0.860 |
| 9 | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda Civic WTCC | 3 | 2:05.312 | 1.064 | |
| 10 | 46 | Jaap VAN LAGEN | |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 3 | 2:05.346 | 1.098 | |