Yvan Muller blasts to Oschersleben WTCC pole

Having spent Q1 under the threat of elimination, Muller was on top throughout the Q2 shootout, topping the timesheets before and after the field pitted for new rubber.

It was his final effort which grabbed the headlines however, as he found chunks of time on fresh tyres to dip into the 1m33s bracket and finish more than half a second clear of his rivals.

"It was almost the perfect lap, which is not easy here, especially in these cold conditions," Muller said. "I am very pleased - even more so when I saw my gap to the others."

Muller's Chevrolet team-mate and championship leader Rob Huff will start directly behind him in third, having been edged out by Polestar Volvo's Robert Dahlgren - the Swede's front row slot representing Volvo's best qualifying performance in the WTCC.

SUNRED SEAT's Gabriele Tarquini will start from fourth, having qualified eight tenths down on Muller.

ROAL BMW's Tom Coronel will start from the third row alongside the third Chevrolet Cruze of Alain Menu, who has struggled to trouble the top three thus far this weekend.

Norbert Michelisz meanwhile edged out SUNRED's Michael Nykjaer to finish as top Independent in seventh, just over one second down on Muller. Franz Engstler was ninth in his Engstler BMW, ahead of Tiago Monteiro in the SUNRED SEAT.

Race one grid:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car          Time       Gap
 1.  Yvan Muller         Chevrolet         1m33.712s
 2.  Robert Dahlgren     Polestar Volvo    1m34.215s  + 0.503s
 3.  Rob Huff            Chevrolet         1m34.290s  + 0.578s
 4.  Gabriele Tarquini   SUNRED SEAT       1m34.519s  + 0.807s
 5.  Tom Coronel         ROAL BMW          1m34.635s  + 0.923s
 6.  Alain Menu          Chevrolet         1m34.673s  + 0.961s
 7.  Norbert Michelisz   Zengo BMW         1m34.884s  + 1.172s
 8.  Michel Nykjaer      SUNRED SEAT       1m35.260s  + 1.548s
 9.  Franz Engstler      Engstler BMW      1m35.370s  + 1.658s
10.  Tiago Monteiro      SUNRED SEAT       1m35.501s  + 1.789s
11.  Darryl O'Young      Bamboo Chevrolet  1m35.633s  (Q1)
12.  Stefano D'Aste      Wiechers BMW      1m35.656s  (Q1)
13.  Mehdi Bennani       Proteam BMW       1m35.724s  (Q1)
14.  Kristian Poulsen    Engstler BMW      1m35.730s  (Q1)
15.  Pepe Oriola         SUNRED SEAT       1m35.903s  (Q1)
16.  Fredy Barth         SUNRED SEAT       1m35.932s  (Q1)
17.  Javier Villa        Proteam BMW       1m36.071s  (Q1)
18.  Yukinori Taniguchi  Bamboo Chevrolet  1m36.657s  (Q1)
19.  Aleksei Dudukalo    SUNRED SEAT       1m36.666s  (Q1)
20.  Ibrahim Okyay       Borusan BMW       1m38.113s  (Q1)
21.  Fabio Fabiani       Proteam BMW       1m41.754s  (Q1)

Race two grid:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car
 1.  Franz Engstler      Engstler BMW
 2.  Tiago Monteiro      SUNRED SEAT
 3.  Norbert Michelisz   Zengo BMW
 4.  Michel Nykjaer      SUNRED SEAT
 5.  Alain Menu          Chevrolet
 6.  Gabriele Tarquini   SUNRED SEAT
 7.  Rob Huff            Chevrolet
 8.  Tom Coronel         ROAL BMW
 9.  Yvan Muller         Chevrolet
10.  Robert Dahlgren     Polestar Volvo
11.  Darryl O'Young      Bamboo Chevrolet
12.  Stefano D'Aste      Wiechers BMW
13.  Mehdi Bennani       Proteam BMW
14.  Kristian Poulsen    Engstler BMW
15.  Pepe Oriola         SUNRED SEAT
16.  Fredy Barth         SUNRED SEAT
17.  Javier Villa        Proteam BMW
18.  Yukinori Taniguchi  Bamboo Chevrolet
19.  Aleksei Dudukalo    SUNRED SEAT
20.  Ibrahim Okyay       Borusan BMW
21.  Fabio Fabiani       Proteam BMW

Race one grid - Normal qualifying times
Race two grid - Q1 top 10 reversed then Q1 order from 11th