WTCC – Tiago Monteiro returns to pole position

Tiago Monteiro (Honda) scored his third WTCC pole, his first in six years, by winning qualifying on home soil in Vila Real. The Portuguese achieved a time of 1'56''633 during the last session to beat Yvan Muller (Citroën) who failed by a tenth.

The four-time world champion will be surrounded by the Civics as Norbert Michelisz and Rob Huff will monopolize the second row of the grid for the main race. The Hungarian and the Briton, however, finished more than a second from the benchmark, the first having hit the rail while the second locked his wheels when braking.

José Maria Lopez (Citroën) completes the top five without having set a time in the last session after going off the track.

Tom Coronel (Chevrolet) won pole for the Sprint Race by setting the tenth time during the second session behind Nicky Catsburg (Lada) who will start alongside him on the front row. The two Dutchmen finished behind Thed Björk (Volvo), Mehdi Bennani (Citroën) and his teammate Tom Chilton. Robert Dahlgren (Volvo), Fredrik Ekblom's replacement, ranked 11th.

Hugo Valente (Lada) failed at the gates of Q2 in 13th position, finishing ahead of his compatriot John Filippi (Chevrolet).

The WTCC races in Vila Real will be followed this Sunday June 26 from 16 p.m. on Eurosport.

WTCC qualifying results in Vila Real