Menu takes pole for Macau finale

Menu, who drives for Chevrolet, put in his fastest lap right at the very end of the session - securing pole spot as he took the chequered flag.

Right behind him on the track was outgoing champion Andy Priaulx, who set his best effort then too, to seal a spot on the front row.

But behind the pair, Muller could not hide his delight at delivering an encouraging third fastest time - which crucially puts him five places ahead of his title rival Gabriele Tarquini on the grid.

The session ended with more disappointment for Tarquini, who crashed his SEAT Leon in the Solitude Esses to bring out a red flag during the middle part of qualifying.

Chevrolet's Rob Huff will start from fourth place, with Augusto Farfus following Tarquini's example and clouting the wall in the dying seconds of the session - leaving him unable to respond to the improving track conditions that helped his rivals bump him down the order.

Jordi Gene and Rickard Rydell will start sixth and seventh, ahead of Tarquini.

Pos Driver               Car                  Time          Gap
 1. Alain Menu           Chevrolet Lacetti    2:30.285
 2. Andy Priaulx         BMW 320si            2:30.458   +0.173
 3. Yvan Muller          SEAT Leon TDi        2:30.938   +0.653
 4. Rob Huff             Chevrolet Lacetti    2:30.953   +0.668
 5. Augusto Farfus       BMW 320si            2:31.083   +0.798
 6. Jordi Gene           SEAT Leon TDi        2:31.227   +0.942
 7. Rickard Rydell       SEAT Leon TDi        2:31.299   +1.014
 8. Gabriele Tarquini    SEAT Leon TDi        2:31.529   +1.244
 9. Nicola Larini        Chevrolet Lacetti    2:31.617   +1.332
10. Jorg Muller          BMW 320si            2:31.664   +1.379
11. James Thompson       Honda Accord         2:31.712   +1.427
12. Tiago Monteiro       SEAT Leon TDi        2:31.804   +1.519
13. Felix Porteiro       BMW 320si            2:31.996   +1.711
14. Alex Zanardi         BMW 320si            2:32.734   +2.449
15. Sergio Hernandez     BMW 320si            2:33.701   +3.416
16. Andre Couto          Honda Accord         2:33.824   +3.539
17. Tom Coronel          SEAT Leon            2:34.090   +3.805
18. Franz Engstler       BMW 320si            2:34.562   +4.277
19. Takayuki Aoki        BMW 320si            2:34.799   +4.514
20. Manabu Orido         Chevrolet Lacetti    2:35.266   +4.981
21. Jaap van Lagen       Lada 110             2:36.687   +6.402
22. Matthew Marsh        BMW 320si            2:36.897   +6.612
23. Viktor Shapovalov    Lada 110             2:37.939   +7.654
24. George Tanev         BMW 320si            2:38.274   +7.989
25. Kirill Ladygin       Lada 110             2:38.507   +8.222
26. Ibrahim Okyay        BMW 320si            2:39.771   +9.486
27. Andrei Romanov       BMW 320si            2:39.876   +9.591
28. Masaki Kano          BMW 320i             2:43.154  +12.869
29. Melvin Choo          BMW 320si            2:49.352  +19.067