Norbert Michelisz claims pole position in Japan

Honda’s Norbert Michelisz claimed his third pole position of the season in qualifying for the World Touring Car Championship in Japan, mastering the wet conditions at the Twin Ring Motegi to see off a challenge from Volvo’s  Nicky Catsburg.

Michelisz – who also took pole in Motegi two years ago – was in imperious form in qualifying, at one stage being over a second faster than his nearest rival, before ending up with the top time by a margin of almost four tenths of a second.

Catsburg thus had to settle for second, ahead of team-mate Néstor Girolami in third, who was just under a second away from pole position.

Esteban Guerrieri made it two Hondas in Q3 on his début with the factory team, his impressive effort netting him fourth on the grid for the Main Race.

Another strong effort came from home hero Ryo Michigami, who made it through to Q3 for the first time in his WTCC career and ended up with fifth on the grid, also ensuring that all three Civics made it all the way through qualifying at Honda’s home circuit.

Championship leader Thed Björk ended the session sixth, the Volvo driver having been knocked out of Q3 by his own team-mate Girolami and thus denied championship points.

Mehdi Bennani was the leading Sébastien Loeb Racing driver in seventh, ahead of the lead LADA of RC Motorsport’s Yann Ehrlacher in eighth.

Completing the top ten, and forming the reverse-grid front row for the Opening Race, were the second SLR Citroën of Tom Chilton and RC Motorsport’s Kevin Gleason, the latter becoming the first American pole-sitter in WTCC history.

Zengő Motorsport’s Dániel Nagy enjoyed a strong session with the young Hungarian making his first Q2 appearance of the session to end up in 11^th, ahead of the third SLR Citroën of John Filippi in 12^th.

Münnich Motorsport’s Rob Huff just missed out on the cut-off for entry into Q2 after Nagy made a late improvement, making it just the second time this season that the Brit has failed to progress beyond the first qualifying session.

ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Coronel was also a driver to suffer in Q1, despite the Dutchman having been inside the top 12 until the final few minutes of the session. He will start from 14^th on the grid for both races.

WTCC rookie Kris Richard put his Campos Racing Chevrolet in 15^th, ahead of Zengő Motorsport’s Zsolt Szabó and RC Motorsport’s Filipe de Souza.

MAC3

In the manufacturers’ time trial, Honda claimed the bragging rights on home soil with a two-lap effort that was just over 2.5 seconds faster than the Volvo trio, claiming back crucial points in the manufacturers’ championship in the process following their pre-event disqualification from the results of the previous event in China.

Honda’s Ryo Michigami will start the Opening Race from the back of the grid due to an engine change penalty. The Opening Race is scheduled to begin at 14:15 local time (05:15 GMT, 06:15 CET).

Q3 results

POS	NO	CL	DRIVER	NAT	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	5		Norbert MICHELISZ		Honda Racing Team JAS	Honda Civic WTCC	3	2:08.890	0.000
2	63		Nicky CATSBURG		Polestar Cyan Racing	Volvo S60 Polestar	3	2:09.260	0.370
3	61		Néstor GIROLAMI		Polestar Cyan Racing	Volvo S60 Polestar	3	2:09.824	0.934
4	86	T	Esteban GUERRIERI		Honda Racing Team JAS	Honda Civic WTCC	3	2:10.091	1.201
5	34		Ryo MICHIGAMI		Honda Racing Team JAS	Honda Civic WTCC	3	2:10.465	1.575

Q2 results

POS	NO	CL	DRIVER	NAT	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	63		Nicky CATSBURG		Polestar Cyan Racing	Volvo S60 Polestar	5	2:08.411	0.000
2	5		Norbert MICHELISZ		Honda Racing Team JAS	Honda Civic WTCC	5	2:08.979	0.568
3	34		Ryo MICHIGAMI		Honda Racing Team JAS	Honda Civic WTCC	5	2:09.382	0.971
4	86	T	Esteban GUERRIERI		Honda Racing Team JAS	Honda Civic WTCC	5	2:09.394	0.983
5	61		Néstor GIROLAMI		Polestar Cyan Racing	Volvo S60 Polestar	5	2:09.513	1.102
6	62		Thed BJÖRK		Polestar Cyan Racing	Volvo S60 Polestar	5	2:09.550	1.139
7	25	T	Mehdi BENNANI		Sébastien Loeb Racing	Citroën C-Elysée WTCC	5	2:09.627	1.216
8	68	T	Yann EHRLACHER		RC Motorsport	LADA Vesta WTCC	4	2:10.059	1.648
9	3	T	Tom CHILTON		Sébastien Loeb Racing	Citroën C-Elysée WTCC	4	2:10.271	1.860
10	24	T	Kevin GLEASON		RC Motorsport	LADA Vesta WTCC	4	2:10.599	2.188
11	99	T	Dániel NAGY		Zengő Motorsport Kft	Honda Civic WTCC	4	2:10.604	2.193
12	27	T	John FILIPPI		Sébastien Loeb Racing	Citroën C-Elysée WTCC	4	2:10.981	2.570

Q1 results

POS	NO	CL	DRIVER	NAT	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	63		Nicky CATSBURG		Polestar Cyan Racing	Volvo S60 Polestar	8	2:09.522	0.000
2	5		Norbert MICHELISZ		Honda Racing Team JAS	Honda Civic WTCC	5	2:09.984	0.462
3	34		Ryo MICHIGAMI		Honda Racing Team JAS	Honda Civic WTCC	8	2:10.027	0.505
4	62		Thed BJÖRK		Polestar Cyan Racing	Volvo S60 Polestar	8	2:10.268	0.746
5	3	T	Tom CHILTON		Sébastien Loeb Racing	Citroën C-Elysée WTCC	8	2:10.380	0.858
6	86	T	Esteban GUERRIERI		Honda Racing Team JAS	Honda Civic WTCC	5	2:10.465	0.943
7	25	T	Mehdi BENNANI		Sébastien Loeb Racing	Citroën C-Elysée WTCC	8	2:10.475	0.953
8	61		Néstor GIROLAMI		Polestar Cyan Racing	Volvo S60 Polestar	8	2:10.739	1.217
9	68	T	Yann EHRLACHER		RC Motorsport	LADA Vesta WTCC	8	2:10.891	1.369
10	99	T	Dániel NAGY		Zengő Motorsport Kft	Honda Civic WTCC	8	2:11.059	1.537
11	24	T	Kevin GLEASON		RC Motorsport	LADA Vesta WTCC	9	2:11.066	1.544
12	27	T	John FILIPPI		Sébastien Loeb Racing	Citroën C-Elysée WTCC	8	2:11.222	1.700
13	12	T	Rob HUFF		ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Citroën C-Elysée WTCC	9	2:11.879	2.357
14	9	T	Tom CORONEL		ROAL Motorsport	Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1	8	2:11.944	2.422
15	11		Kris RICHARD		Campos Racing	Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1	7	2:13.462	3.940
16	66	T	Zsolt Dávid SZABÓ		Zengő Motorsport Kft	Honda Civic WTCC	8	2:14.234	4.712
17	26	T	Filipe Clemente DE SOUZA		RC Motorsport	LADA Vesta WTCC	7	2:15.938	6.416