Huff claims pole for Macau opener

The Chevrolet driver is fighting for the runner-up spot in the championship with Gabriele Tarquini and Andy Priaulx, and gave himself the best chance to make up ground in the first of Sunday's two races by topping the delayed Q2 session.

Norbert Michelisz set a sensational time on his last lap of the session, which bumped champion elect Yvan Muller to third and denied Chevrolet a 1-2-3. But the team will still start 1-2-3 on the grid because Michelisz has a five-place grid penalty for missing the weighbridge on Friday.

Muller was fortunate to get a lap in at all later in the session after hitting the wall at Lisboa early in the session while squabbling for track position with Andre Couto. But he got back out of the pits in time for a lap at the end. His RML Chevrolet team-mate Alain Menu moved up to third at the end, with both drivers pushing Augusto Farfus down the order.

Tiago Monteiro will start fourth in the leading SEAT, ahead of Farfus who had returned to the pits with three minutes remaining while lying second, only to end up sixth by the end (fifth after Michelisz's penalty).

Huff's rivals for the runner-up spot will start some way behind, with Tarquini and Priaulx sharing the fourth row in front of lead independent Darryl O'Young and Macau specialist Couto.

The places outside the top 10 were decided by Friday's Q1 session.

Q2 times
Pos Driver               Car           Time          Gap
 1. Rob Huff             Chevrolet     2m31.321s
 2. Norbert Michelisz    SEAT          2m31.728s  +0.407
 3. Yvan Muller          Chevrolet     2m31.773s  +0.452
 4. Alain Menu           Chevrolet     2m31.862s  +0.541
 5. Tiago Monteiro       SEAT          2m31.946s  +0.625
 6. Augusto Farfus       BMW           2m32.222s  +0.901
 7. Gabriele Tarquini    SEAT          2m32.222s  +0.901
 8. Andy Priaulx         BMW           2m32.478s  +1.157
 9. Darryl O'Young       Chevrolet     2m33.185s  +1.864
10. Andre Couto          SEAT          2m37.073s  +5.752