Frédéric Vervisch put his Audi on pole position for the final FIA World Touring Car Cup race of the weekend in Marrakech, beating the Lynk & Co cars of Yvan Muller and Thed Björk to secure his first pole in the series.
Vervisch had earlier been the quickest driver in the Q2 session and should have therefore been able to choose his order first for Q3. However, a glitch prevented him being able to, and in the end Vervisch went second in the order but was still able to produce a lap which was over three tenths faster than his rivals.
Muller once again qualified in second, as he had on Saturday, albeit without the technical issues that saw him pick up a penalty and start Saturday’s first race of the year from the back of the grid.
Björk backed up his Cyan Racing team-mate in third, whilst Tiago Monteiro was the leading Honda driver in fourth.
On his WTCR début Mikel Azcona impressed, qualifying in fifth as the best CUPRA after having got into the final segment of qualifying with the second-best Q2 time.
Yann Ehrlacher put his Lynk & Co car in sixth, ahead of Saturday’s race one winner Esteban Guerrier in seventh.
WRT’s Jean-Karl Vernay had been amongst the fastest in Q1 but could only manage eighth fastest come Q2.
Completing the top ten were BRC Racing Hyundai duo Gabriele Tarquini and Nicky Catsburg, securing the latter the reverse-grid pole position for race two, with reigning champion Tarquini alongside.
Both Münnich Motorsport’s Néstor Girolami and WRT’s Gordon Shedden ran out of tyres towards the end of Q2 and had to settle for 11th and 12th respectively.
The big names not to make it through to Q2 were rife on such a talented grid. Ma Qing Hua was the first to miss the cut off in 13th, ahead of the Hyundai pairing of Augusto Farfus and Norbert Michelisz in 14th and 15th respectively.
Cyan Racing’s Andy Priaulx was just 17th, having lost his best time at one stage in Q1 due to being the cause of a full-course yellow when he clipped a barrier and knocked his wing mirror off, leaving it in the middle of the circuit.
Volkswagen endured a difficult qualifying, with Rob Huff the best of the Golf GTi drivers in 19th position, whilst SLR team-mates Mehdi Bennani, Johan Kristoffersson and Benjamin Leuchter were just 23rd, 24th and 25th respectively.
Several drivers, including Vervisch and Aurélien Panis, picked up punctures during the first qualifying session.
Race two gets underway at 16:45 local time (16:45 BST, 17:45 CEST) followed by race three at 18:15 local time (18:15 BST, 19:15 CEST).
Q3 results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 22 | Frédéric VERVISCH |  |
Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 3 | 1:24.721 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 100 | Yvan MULLER |  |
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 3 | 1:25.091 | 0.370 |
| 3 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 3 | 1:25.224 | 0.503 |
| 4 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
KCMG | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 3 | 1:25.593 | 0.872 |
| 5 | 96 | Mikel AZCONA |  |
PWR Racing | CUPRA TCR | 3 | 1:25.639 | 0.918 |
Q2 results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 22 | Frédéric VERVISCH | |
Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 3 | 1:24.590 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 96 | Mikel AZCONA | |
PWR Racing | CUPRA TCR | 5 | 1:24.826 | 0.236 |
| 3 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO | |
KCMG | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 3 | 1:24.833 | 0.243 |
| 4 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK | |
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 6 | 1:24.834 | 0.244 |
| 5 | 100 | Yvan MULLER | |
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 7 | 1:24.855 | 0.265 |
| 6 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | |
Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 6 | 1:24.919 | 0.329 |
| 7 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 8 | 1:24.930 | 0.340 |
| 8 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY | |
Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 7 | 1:24.964 | 0.374 |
| 9 | 1 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 7 | 1:24.997 | 0.407 |
| 10 | 88 | Nicky CATSBURG |  |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 8 | 1:25.079 | 0.489 |
| 11 | 29 | Néstor GIROLAMI | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 8 | 1:25.102 | 0.512 |
| 12 | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN |  |
Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 7 | 1:25.292 | 0.702 |
Q1 results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK | |
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 14 | 1:24.820 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 96 | Mikel AZCONA | |
PWR Racing | CUPRA TCR | 10 | 1:24.857 | 0.037 |
| 3 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY | |
Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 12 | 1:24.883 | 0.063 |
| 4 | 29 | Néstor GIROLAMI | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 14 | 1:24.889 | 0.069 |
| 5 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO | |
KCMG | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 13 | 1:24.972 | 0.152 |
| 6 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | |
Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 12 | 1:25.049 | 0.229 |
| 7 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 9 | 1:25.057 | 0.237 |
| 8 | 88 | Nicky CATSBURG | |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 12 | 1:25.060 | 0.240 |
| 9 | 100 | Yvan MULLER | |
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 11 | 1:25.079 | 0.259 |
| 10 | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 16 | 1:25.108 | 0.288 |
| 11 | 22 | Frédéric VERVISCH | |
Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 10 | 1:25.151 | 0.331 |
| 12 | 1 | Gabriele TARQUINI | |
BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 14 | 1:25.198 | 0.378 |
| 13 | 55 | Ma QING HUA |  |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 15 | 1:25.234 | 0.414 |
| 14 | 8 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 14 | 1:25.270 | 0.450 |
| 15 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 14 | 1:25.328 | 0.508 |
| 16 | 50 | Tom CORONEL | |
Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing | CUPRA TCR | 12 | 1:25.357 | 0.537 |
| 17 | 111 | Andy PRIAULX | |
Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 15 | 1:25.397 | 0.577 |
| 18 | 37 | Daniel HAGLÖF | |
PWR Racing | CUPRA TCR | 11 | 1:25.438 | 0.618 |
| 19 | 12 | Rob HUFF | |
SLR VW Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 12 | 1:25.463 | 0.643 |
| 20 | 31 | Kevin CECCON | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 15 | 1:25.475 | 0.655 |
| 21 | 10 | Niels LANGEVELD | |
Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 11 | 1:25.486 | 0.666 |
| 22 | 9 | Attila TASSI | |
KCMG | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 15 | 1:25.588 | 0.768 |
| 23 | 25 | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
SLR VW Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 14 | 1:25.679 | 0.859 |
| 24 | 14 | Johan KRISTOFFERSSON | |
SLR Volkswagen | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 13 | 1:25.693 | 0.873 |
| 25 | 33 | Benjamin LEUCHTER |  |
SLR Volkswagen | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 14 | 1:26.111 | 1.291 |
| 26 | 21 | Aurélien PANIS | |
Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing | CUPRA TCR | 10 | 1:28.211 | 3.391 |