Qualifying report
WTCC Moscow
Moscow WTCC: Catsburg leads shock Lada 1-2-3 in wet qualifying
Nicky Catsburg has claimed sensational pole at Moscow Raceway in a very wet qualifying session, with the Lada stunning in wet conditions at their home circuit, as teammates Gabriele Tarquini and Hugo Valente completed the top three.
Edited: Jun 11, 2016, 12:30 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Rain had begun to fall even more heavily ahead of qualifying, which worked against the Volvos, with both Thed Bjork and Fredrik Ekblom failing to get through into the second part of qualifying.
Meanwhile, Catsburg was already demonstrating stunning pace in the wet, topping the times in Q1 ahead of Citroen’s Lopez.
In the second part of qualifying, as the times tumbled, Honda and Citroen found themselves fighting just to make the top ten while the three Ladas led the way, with Catsburg again fastest ahead of teammates Tarquini and Valente.
Rob Huff was struggling for grip in the Honda, and missed the top ten following a late improvement for the Chevrolet of Tom Coronel, banishing the Brit down to 11th for both races, while team-mate Tiago Monteiro found himself tenth due to traffic on the circuit, securing the reversed grid pole for the opening race.
Lopez was the fastest of the Citroens in Q2, but qualifying sixth means the Argentinian missed the top five shootout, while teammate Yvan Muller qualified in eighth position.
Norbert Michelisz was the only Honda driver in the top five shootout, but the Hungarian was slower than the Munnich Motorsport Chevrolet of James Thompson, who qualified in fourth position and was also the best placed of the independent drivers.
Thompson’s time was soon beaten by the Lada of Valente, which was in turn superseded by the Tarquini, but Catsburg oblitered his teammates times with a lap 1.4 seconds faster to take the Russian manufacturer’s first pole position in the World Touring Car Championship.
“It couldn’t be any better,” said Catsburg. “I’m super surprised, I didn’t expect this at all. It shows that we with Lada Sport Rosneft have really made some progress, and I’m really happy to be P1.”
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 Second straight retirement a "hard pill to swallow", says Paddon
Next article Hulkenberg tips McLaren to shine for rest of 2016
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
Latest news
Catching Larson in the NASCAR Chase has to start at track where 'I suck'
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
25 min
Catching Larson in the NASCAR Chase has to start at track where 'I suck'
Verstappen charges from 24th to ninth as GetSpeed wins Portimao GTWC finale
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 1 h
Verstappen charges from 24th to ninth as GetSpeed wins Portimao GTWC finale
Colton Herta “maybe underestimated the difference” from IndyCar – F2 boss
FIA F2
F2 FIA F2 5 h
Colton Herta “maybe underestimated the difference” from IndyCar – F2 boss
WEC Barcelona: Genesis secures maiden series pole from Toyota
WEC
WEC WEC
Barcelona
6 h
WEC Barcelona: Genesis secures maiden series pole from Toyota
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