WTCC – Lada takes a hat-trick in qualifying in Russia

The qualifications for the Moscow Raceway event will be a milestone in this 2016 season. Citroën C-Elysée by José Maria Lopez and Yvan Muller, weighed down by 80 kg for the record, were unable to access the third part of the session to compete for pole position.

A poor performance from which Honda did not benefit since neither Tiago Monteiro and Rob Huff, stuck in Q2, nor Norbert Michelisz 5th in Q3 on a wet track due to rain, were able to resist to the Lada Vesta of Lada Sport Rosneft who take a hat-trick at home.

By taking advantage of better track conditions, Nicky catsburg, last to start in the final part of the session, was the fastest by completing a best lap in 1'57″722 to obtain his first pole in the discipline. Gabriele Tarquini and Hugo Valente follow in the standings ahead of the Chevrolet Cruze of surprise guest James Thompson.

For the main race, José Maria Lopez and Yvan Muller will start from 6th and 8th rows, while Tiago Monteiro, 10th in qualifying, took pole position for the opening race. Fredrik Ekblom's best Volvo took 13th position

Qualification results