(This article has been automatically translated from the original French)

Best time at the end of each of the three free practice sessions, José María López has emerged as the favorite for the pole position. Qualifications began with the Q1, extended to 30 minutes as on all street circuits of the championship. The four Citroën C-Elysée WTCC were doing in the lead with Ma Qinghua to Yvan Muller, José María López and Sébastien Loeb. Eleventh on the car entered by Sébastien Loeb Racing, Mehdi Bennani won narrowly accession in Q2.This first step, the ambitions of the Citroen drivers differed. Forced back five places on the grid for race 1 after a penalty received in Argentina, Yvan Muller postponing its hopes on the second run. The four-time World Champion was between the eighth and tenth place to go on right place thanks to the reverse grid. Realizing the clock set by its engineers, Yvan reached its goal with the tenth time! Despite his efforts, Loeb could do better than eighth, and therefore unable to go into Q3. Author of a 1'43''393 lap - or 3 / 10ths better than the record of the pass year - ahead of Hugo Valente Pechito López, Ma Qinghua, Mehdi Bennani and Tom Chilton.Galvanized before his audience, Mehdi Bennani not cracking under the pressure! He realized a performance that Ma Qinghua could not fight. Hugo Valente being made a mistake, only José María López could outstrip the Moroccan. Echoing its performance since the start of the weekend, the pilot of the C-Elysée 37 tore his fifth consecutive pole position in the FIA ​​WTCC!THEY SAIDJosé María López: "On this tour, each round is complicated. Compared to last year, there are some details that have changed, as piles of tires that were replaced by walls in the chicanes. I was confident after Q2 because I had a very good turn after we found the perfect settings. But for pole position, it was again in Q3 as well! It's a perfect weekend so far, I hope it will be the same tomorrow. »Ma Qinghua: "For my first time on this circuit, I was surprised by the very bumpy surface. I worked a lot from the past year of data and I improved throughout the sessions. This route is really special, it has nothing to do with the other street circuits. My turn to Q3 was not great, I had small brake problems. This is a superb hat-trick result for Citroën "Sébastien Loeb: "I had a very good feeling during practice, but I have not found in qualifying. So I'm not really satisfied with my 8th place, even if I leave after 6th penalties of each other. We will work to try to understand what happened. »Yvan Muller: "With my penalty received in Termas, I had to adapt my approach to qualifications. On a circuit where the gaps are too tight, play tenth place is almost more complicated than go for the pole position. The team gave me a target clock, I realized, and we finally had some success inheriting tenth. I hope to open my meter wins tomorrow. »Mehdi Bennani: "I'm really happy with this result. All Sébastien Loeb Racing team has worked hard to offer me the best car. This was my first Q3, for my second race with Citroen. I tried to ignore the pressure and do a good turn. I hope to relive those sensations throughout the season! »Yves Matton: "All our drivers have demonstrated since the beginning of the weekend. Special mention to Pechito, which realizes a faultless pursuing a series of pole positions started in Shanghai last year. Yvan was also a great chance in race 2, it takes the opportunity to regain championship points. Congratulations also to Mehdi Bennani, who made good use of his Citroen C-Elysee WTCC. We must now convert these performances into victories! »CLASSIFICATION QUALIFICATIONS1. José María López (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)2. Mehdi Bennani (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)3. Ma Qinghua (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)4. Hugo Valente (RML Chevrolet Cruze TC1)5. Tom Chilton (RML Chevrolet Cruze TC1)6. Norbert Michelisz (Honda Civic WTCC)7. Tiago Monteiro (Honda Civic WTCC)8. Sébastien Loeb (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)9. Tom Coronel (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)10. Yvan Muller (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)