Qualifying report
WTCC Monza
Monza WTCC: Bjork claims Volvo's first pole
Thed Bjork claimed Volvo’s first WTCC pole position at Monza after fighting off Honda’s Tiago Monteiro and Citroen’s Rob Huff during a closely-fought qualifying session.
Edited: May 5, 2021, 4:21 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
In the first part of qualifying, Monteiro was the first to break under the 1m53s barrier, but was soon bettered by Huff, with the Brit going fastest of all with a time of 1m52.754s.
The Polestar Volvos then demonstrated the benefit of the Monza slipstream, with all three cars working together and taking over at the top, with Nestor Girolami leading Bjork and Nicky Catsburg in the 20-minute session.
Safely into Q2, the Volvos would work together again, with Bjork now going fastest in the first run. Monteiro snatched back the fastest time, with the Portuguese driver’s time seemingly set to keep him on top but for a last-minute improvement from Bjork.
Joining Bjork in the top five shootout were his two Volvo teammates, along with Monteiro and Huff.
A late improvement for ROAL Chevrolet driver Tom Coronel, who had been forced to abort his first run due a mistake at the Roggia chicane, saw the Dutchman grab 10th and pole position for the reversed grid opening race, knocking Honda’s Ryo Michigami out of the top 10.
In the top five shootout, Huff was first out and set a competitive benchmark with a time of 1m52.968s, while Volvo’s Girolami made a mistake at the Roggia chicane and backed off, expecting his time to be deleted.
Catsburg looked set to improve on Huff’s time, despite going wide at the exit of the second Lesmo, but just missed out by less than a tenth of a second.
Monteiro was next, and went faster than Huff, though he ran wide at the exit of the final corner, with a question of whether he exceeded track limits.
Bjork’s lap decimated Monteiro’s however, with the Swede up in every sector, setting a time of 1m52.505s to grab his and Volvo’s first pole position in the WTCC, though he also ran wide at the Parabolica.
Bjork will start from pole for the 11-lap main race on Sunday ahead of Monteiro and Huff, with the Volvos of Catsburg and Girolami completing the top five.
Michelisz just missed the top five shootout and will start in sixth, ahead of Sebastien Loeb Racing Citroen driver Tom Chilton and Morocco Race 1 winner Esteban Guerrieri’s Chevrolet, with the Citroen of Mehdi Bennani and the Chevrolet of Coronel completing the top 10.
Neil Hudson / TouringCarTimes
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Russian GP: Top 10 quotes after qualifying
Next article Alonso: McLaren losing three seconds on Sochi's straights
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Thed Björk
Zandvoort WTCR: Bjork wins after late-race team order
WTCR
WTCR
Zandvoort
Zandvoort WTCR: Bjork wins after late-race team order
Marrakesh WTCR: Bjork wins Race 3 after Muller drama
WTCR
WTCR
Marrakesh
Marrakesh WTCR: Bjork wins Race 3 after Muller drama
Marrakesh WTCR: Guerrieri controls first race of 2019
WTCR
WTCR
Marrakesh
Marrakesh WTCR: Guerrieri controls first race of 2019
More from
Polestar Cyan Racing
WTCR wants Lynk & Co back for 2023 after sudden pullout
WTCR
WTCR
WTCR wants Lynk & Co back for 2023 after sudden pullout
Priaulx steps down from Lynk & Co seat for 2020 WTCR season
WTCR
WTCR
Priaulx steps down from Lynk & Co seat for 2020 WTCR season
Lynk & Co announces four-car 2020 WTCR assault
WTCR
WTCR
Lynk & Co announces four-car 2020 WTCR assault
Latest news
On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Brazilian GP
45 min
On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1
Raul Fernandez still compromised after Indonesia finger injury: “I’m not at 100%”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
Raul Fernandez still compromised after Indonesia finger injury: “I’m not at 100%”
MotoGP can’t simply copy F1’s Drive to Survive success – Chase Carey
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
2 h
MotoGP can’t simply copy F1’s Drive to Survive success – Chase Carey
Marc Marquez's mind games with Jorge Martin: "If you're fast, you don't need team orders"
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
2 h
Marc Marquez's mind games with Jorge Martin: "If you're fast, you don't need team orders"
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe