Yvan Muller heads Valencia World Touring Car qualifying for Chevrolet
Chevrolet's Yvan Muller recovered from an opening qualifying session scare to claim pole position for race one of the World Touring Car Championship's Valencia round
The reigning world champion was forced to dig deep in order to finish among the top 12 fastest drivers in Q1, who progress to the decisive second session. Muller was stripped of an early fastest lap in Q1 for failing to respect the track limits at Turn 1.
"I am not sure what happened," said Muller. "I would like to see the replay, as I may have been on the white [pit exit] line at Turn 1, but I would be surprised if I was over it by very much."
To the relief of the Frenchman's RML team, Muller was able to produce a second fast lap on tyres past their optimum. Muller appeared in control in the second session, his time of 1m42.226s some 0.363 seconds faster than Q1 pacesetter Gabriele Tarquini.
Lukoil Racing's Tarquini attempt to overhaul Muller resulted in the Italian running into the gravel on the last lap, but the WTCC veteran was satisfied with the result.
"To be honest, I don't think I could have beaten Yvan's time," said SEAT driver Tarquini. "I just locked my tyres going into Turn 11 on my last lap, and I had to abort. But after pole in round one at Monza, I am very happy to be on the front row here."
Tarquini's Lukoil team-mate Aleksei Dudukalo took eighth position in Q2, but the rear of the Russian's SEAT Leon later went up in flames in parc ferme after the session.
ROAL Motorsport's Tom Coronel "maximised his potential" to take third and top BMW honours. The Dutchman counted himself fortunate to progress into the second session after suffering a driveshaft failure in Q1.
"I was about to start a lap when I lost drive, and I was only just able to duck into the pits and freewheel to my garage," said a relieved Coronel.
After encountering technical problems in second free practice, local hero Pepe Oriola claimed an excellent fourth overall and the Yokohama Independents' Trophy pole for Tuenti (SUNRED) Racing.
Muller's RML team-mate Rob Huff took fifth spot, while the third of the factory Cruzes of Alain Menu finished an unaccustomed ninth. There were solid performances from Independent BMW runners Norbert Michelisz, Zengo Motorsport, in sixth and Franz Engstler in seventh position.
Pole for race two will go to Stefano D'Aste, who was 10th quickest in Q2 - the top 10 of which is reversed to set the top of the race two grid.
Race one grid: Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Yvan Muller Chevrolet 1m42.228s 2. Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil SEAT 1m42.591s + 0.363s 3. Tom Coronel ROAL BMW 1m42.643s + 0.415s 4. Pepe Oriola Tuenti SEAT 1m42.829s + 0.601s 5. Rob Huff Chevrolet 1m42.862s + 0.634s 6. Norbert Michelisz Zengo BMW 1m42.994s + 0.766s 7. Franz Engstler Engstler BMW 1m43.108s + 0.880s 8. Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil SEAT 1m43.410s + 1.182s 9. Alain Menu Chevrolet 1m43.472s + 1.244s 10. Stefano D'Aste Wiechers BMW 1m43.544s + 1.316s 11. Tiago Monteiro Tuenti SEAT 1m43.640s + 1.412s 12. Darryl O'Young Special Tuning SEAT 1m43.832s + 1.604s 13. Alberto Cerqui ROAL BMW 1m43.889s Q1 14. Alex MacDowall bamboo Chevrolet 1m43.951s Q1 15. Mehdi Bennani Proteam BMW 1m44.060s Q1 16. James Nash Arena Ford 1m44.126s Q1 17. Gabor Weber Zengo BMW 1m44.316s Q1 18. Pasquale di Sabatino bamboo Chevrolet 1m44.342s Q1 19. Isaac Tutumlu Proteam BMW 1m44.435s Q1 20. Fernando Monje SUNRED SEAT 1m44.509s Q1 21. Tom Chilton Arena Ford 1m44.702s Q1 22. Tom Boardman Special Tuning SEAT 1m44.703s Q1 23. Andrea Barlesi SUNRED SEAT 1m45.124s Q1 24. Charles Ng Engstler BMW 1m45.716s Q1 Race two grid: Pos Driver Team/Car 1. Stefano D'Aste Wiechers BMW 2. Alain Menu Chevrolet 3. Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil SEAT 4. Franz Engstler Engstler BMW 5. Norbert Michelisz Zengo BMW 6. Rob Huff Chevrolet 7. Pepe Oriola Tuenti SEAT 8. Tom Coronel ROAL BMW 9. Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil SEAT 10. Yvan Muller Chevrolet 11. Tiago Monteiro Tuenti SEAT 12. Darryl O'Young Special Tuning SEAT 13. Alberto Cerqui ROAL BMW 14. Alex MacDowall bamboo Chevrolet 15. Mehdi Bennani Proteam BMW 16. James Nash Arena Ford 17. Gabor Weber Zengo BMW 18. Pasquale di Sabatino bamboo Chevrolet 19. Isaac Tutumlu Proteam BMW 20. Fernando Monje SUNRED SEAT 21. Tom Chilton Arena Ford 22. Tom Boardman Special Tuning SEAT 23. Andrea Barlesi SUNRED SEAT 24. Charles Ng Engstler BMW Race one grid = Q2 times 1st-12th, Q1 times 13th on Race two grid = Q2 top 10 reversed, Q2 order 11th/12th, Q1 times 13th on
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