Gabriele Tarquini puts SEAT on Monza World Touring Car pole

The 50-year-old Italian edged out the pre-race favourite Chevrolets to go fastest in both Q1 and Q2 of the series' new-look qualifying format, as he made the most of his SEAT's new engine.

"To be honest, I didn't expect this," said Tarquini. "It is hard to know how we will go over a race distance. In Q1 I wasn't pushing too hard as it wasn't so important, and then in Q2 I have to thank Tom Coronel who gave me a good tow for half a lap. I was pushing more in the corners, but I am lucky I was able to get the tow."

Defending world champion Yvan Muller, in the leading Chevrolet, will join Tarquini on the front row of Sunday's race one grid. The Frenchman finished just 0.059 seconds shy of pole in qualifying two, and felt perhaps there had been time to make up in the Parabolica.

Muller's remaining Chevrolet team-mates Rob Huff and Alain Menu will form the second row of race one's grid, ahead of the similar Cruze of guesting Scandinavian series ace Rickard Rydell.

ROAL's Tom Coronel completed the top six, and had the honour of ending the afternoon as top BMW runner.

Pepe Oriola impressed in his SUNRED SEAT. The young Spaniard completed minimal pre-season testing, but ended the afternoon seventh fastest to claim the Independents' Trophy pole.

The WTCC has adjusted its qualifying format for 2012, with the top 10 of the 12 cars that progress to Q2 reversed to set the race two grid - rather than the previous practice of reversing the Q1 top 10. Zengo BMW driver Norbert Michelisz took the crucial 10th in Q2 to earn race two pole, ahead of Tarquini's team-mate Aleksei Dudukalo.

Muller had a scare in the opening session when he narrowly avoided being bumped from the 12 fastest runners. The three-time world champion languished in 13th with just three minutes left on the clocks, but excellent teamwork from the Chevrolet trio - operating in a train to tow each other - helped Muller make the cut.

Q1 was red flagged with just under two minutes remaining when Alberto Cerqui spun backwards at the Parabolica and beached the rear wheels of his ROAL BMW in the gravel.

On the restart, most drivers remained in the pitlane, as there was insufficient time to complete a hot lap before the chequered flag. The red flag fell at an inopportune time for the Arena Fords cars, neither of which made the Q2 cut on their debut.

Race one grid:

Pos  Driver                Team/Car             Time       Gap
 1.  Gabriele Tarquini     Lukoil SEAT          1m57.915s
 2.  Yvan Muller           Chevrolet            1m57.974s  + 0.059s
 3.  Rob Huff              Chevrolet            1m58.106s  + 0.191s
 4.  Alain Menu            Chevrolet            1m58.200s  + 0.285s
 5.  Rickard Rydell        Chevrolet Sweden     1m58.319s  + 0.404s
 6.  Tom Coronel           ROAL BMW             1m58.389s  + 0.474s
 7.  Pepe Oriola           SUNRED SEAT          1m58.412s  + 0.497s
 8.  Alex MacDowall        bamboo Chevrolet     1m58.507s  + 0.592s
 9.  Aleksei Dudukalo      Lukoil SEAT          1m58.649s  + 0.734s
10.  Norbert Michelisz     Zengo BMW            1m58.652s  + 0.737s
11.  Stefano D'Aste        Wiechers BMW         1m58.931s  + 1.016s
12.  Gabor Weber           Zengo BMW            1m59.348s  + 1.433s
13.  Franz Engstler        Engstler BMW         1m59.435s  Q1
14.  James Nash            Arena Ford           1m59.563s  Q1
15.  Tom Chilton           Arena Ford           1m59.723s  Q1
16.  Tiago Monteiro        SUNRED SEAT          1m59.743s  Q1
17.  Alberto Cerqui        ROAL BMW             1m59.841s  Q1
18.  Pasquale di Sabatino  bamboo Chevrolet     1m59.891s  Q1
19.  Charles Ng            Engstler BMW         1m59.949s  Q1
20.  Mehdi Bennani         Proteam BMW          2m00.300s  Q1
21.  Andrea Barlesi        SUNRED SEAT          2m00.394s  Q1
22.  Isaac Tutumlu         Proteam BMW          2m01.333s  Q1
23.  Darryl O'Young        Special Tuning SEAT

Race two grid:

Pos  Driver                Team/Car
 1.  Norbert Michelisz     Zengo BMW
 2.  Aleksei Dudukalo      Lukoil SEAT
 3.  Alex MacDowall        bamboo Chevrolet
 4.  Pepe Oriola           SUNRED SEAT
 5.  Tom Coronel           ROAL BMW
 6.  Rickard Rydell        Chevrolet Sweden
 7.  Alain Menu            Chevrolet
 8.  Rob Huff              Chevrolet
 9.  Yvan Muller           Chevrolet
10.  Gabriele Tarquini     Lukoil SEAT
11.  Stefano D'Aste        Wiechers BMW
12.  Gabor Weber           Zengo BMW
13.  Franz Engstler        Engstler BMW
14.  James Nash            Arena Ford
15.  Tom Chilton           Arena Ford
16.  Tiago Monteiro        SUNRED SEAT
17.  Alberto Cerqui        ROAL BMW
18.  Pasquale di Sabatino  bamboo Chevrolet
19.  Charles Ng            Engstler BMW
20.  Mehdi Bennani         Proteam BMW
21.  Andrea Barlesi        SUNRED SEAT
22.  Isaac Tutumlu         Proteam BMW
23.  Darryl O'Young        Special Tuning SEAT

Race one grid = Q2 top 12, Q1 from 13th
Race two grid = Q2 top 10 reversed, Q2 11th/12th, Q1 from 13th