Mehdi Bennani claimed a stunning first FIA World Touring Car Championship pole position at WTCC DHL Race of Qatar.
As the fifth fastest driver in Q2, the 2016 WTCC Trophy champion was first to run in Q3 and posted a lap in his Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroën that none of his rivals could match.
His factory counterparts José María López and Yvan Muller were both up on Bennani’s effort during their laps, but could not match the Moroccan’s final sector time and finished up third and fourth respectively.
It was instead Volvo driver Thed Björk that came closest to Bennani, missing out on pole by just 0.036 seconds.
Honda’s Norbert Michelisz failed to complete his Q3 lap after making contact with a tyre stack marking the track limit.
In Q2, Hugo Valente suffered broken front left suspension on his LADA, bringing out the red flags. Only Muller and López had times on the board at the time, so the restart was a single-lap shootout for the other drivers to get a time on the board. Rob Huff missed out on a place in Q3 in sixth, ahead of Tiago Monteiro, Robert Dahlgren, Gabriele Tarquini and Tom Chilton, who claimed Opening Race pole.
Tom Coronel was knocked out in Q1, together with James Thompson, John Filippi, Ferenc Ficza, Daniel Nagy and Grégoire Demoustier.
The Opening Race takes place at 21h20 local time, followed by the Main Race at 22h35.