Alain Menu has kept his slim championship hopes alive by securing pole position for tomorrow’s first of two World Touring Car Championship races at Suzuka.
It is the Swiss driver’s third pole position of the season, and it also continues Chevrolet’s unbeaten run in the second phase of qualifying, which has seen the blue cars claim pole at every championship round of 2011.
It was a closely fought qualifying session, and this was evidenced by the grid’s top-four places being covered by just 0.08 seconds on the shorter circuit layout being used this weekend.
Menu shares the front row with team-mate and championship leader Yvan Muller, but Chevrolet’s hopes of another qualifying 1-2-3 were dashed by Robert Dahlgren, who muscled his Volvo into third, bumping Robert Huff into fourth place.
The top-ten is completed by ROAL BMW’s Tom Coronel, a trio of SUNREDs being driven by Tiago Monteiro, Michel Nykjær, Gabriele Tarquini, the Bamboo Chevrolet of Darryl O’Young (who provisionally holds pole position on the part-reverse-grid Race 2) and WTCC returnee Colin Turkington.
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2011 FIA WTCC Race of Japan Q1 & Q2 Session Times (Race 1 Grid):
| Driver | Team | Time | ||||
| 1. | Alain Menu |  |
RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T |  |
53.443 | (Q2) |
| 2. | Yvan Muller |  |
RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | |
53.492 | (Q2) |
| 3. | Robert Dahlgren |  |
Polestar Volvo C30 ‘Drive’ |  |
53.512 | (Q2) |
| 4. | Robert Huff |  |
RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | |
53.520 | (Q2) |
| 5. | Tom Coronel |  |
ROAL Motorsport BMW 320TC |  |
53.601 | (Q2) |
| 6. | Tiago Monteiro |  |
SUNRED SR León 1.6T |  |
53.798 | (Q2) |
| 7. | Michel Nykjær |  |
SUNRED SR León 1.6T | |
53.811 | (Q2) |
| 8. | Gabriele Tarquini |  |
Lukoil-SUNRED SR León 1.6T | |
53.824 | (Q2) |
| 9. | Darryl O’Young |  |
Bamboo Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | |
53.902 | (Q2) |
| 10. | Colin Turkington | |
Wiechers-Sport BMW 320TC | |
54.339 | (Q2) |
| 11. | Javier Villa García |  |
Scuderia Proteam BMW 320TC | |
54.070 | (Q1) |
| 12. | Yukinori Taniguchi |  |
Bamboo Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | |
54.073 | (Q1) |
| 13. | Norbert Michelisz |  |
Zengõ-Dension Team BMW 320TC | |
54.126 | (Q1) |
| 14. | Kristian Poulsen | |
Team Engstler BMW 320TC | |
54.127 | (Q1) |
| 15. | Aleksei Dudukalo |  |
Lukoil-SUNRED SR León 1.6T | |
54.219 | (Q1) |
| 16. | Franz Engstler |  |
Team Engstler BMW 320TC | |
54.411 | (Q1) |
| 17. | Fredy Barth | |
Swiss SR León 1.6T | |
54.466 | (Q1) |
| 18. | Hiroki Yoshimoto | |
SUNRED SR León 1.6T | |
54.730 | (Q1) |
| 19. | Mehdi Bennani |  |
Scuderia Proteam BMW 320TC | |
55.002 | (Q1) |
| 20. | Charles Ka-Ki Ng | |
Team Engstler BMW 320si | |
55.356 | (Q1) |
| 21. | Masaki Kano | |
DeTeam KK BMW 320TC | |
55.551 | (Q1) |
| OUTSIDE 107% | 57.429 | |||||
| 22. | Fabio Fabiani | |
Scuderia Proteam BMW 320si | |
58.023 | |
| 23. | Pepe Oriola* | |
SUNRED SR León 1.6T | |
54.730 | |
| 24. | Toshihiro Arai** | |
RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | |
disallowed |
Top-10 starting order determined via a separate top-ten single-lap qualifying session. * Denotes 5-place grid penalty for engine change. ** Disqualified from qualifying for failing to stop at weighbridge
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2011 FIA WTCC Race of Japan Q1 Session Times (Race 2 Grid):
| Driver | Team | Time | |||
| 1. | Darryl O’Young | |
Bamboo Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | |
53.956 |
| 2. | Tom Coronel | |
ROAL Motorsport BMW 320TC | |
53.943 |
| 3. | Robert Huff | |
RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | |
53.937 |
| 4. | Yvan Muller | |
RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | |
53.893 |
| 5. | Tiago Monteiro | |
SUNRED SR León 1.6T | |
53.871 |
| 6. | Robert Dahlgren | |
Polestar Volvo C30 ‘Drive’ | |
53.760 |
| 7. | Alain Menu | |
RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | |
53.748 |
| 8. | Gabriele Tarquini | |
Lukoil-SUNRED SR León 1.6T | |
53.734 |
| 9. | Michel Nykjær | |
SUNRED SR León 1.6T | |
53.725 |
| 10. | Colin Turkington | |
Wiechers-Sport BMW 320TC | |
53.672 |
| 11. | Javier Villa García | |
Scuderia Proteam BMW 320TC | |
54.070 |
| 12. | Yukinori Taniguchi | |
Bamboo Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | |
54.073 |
| 13. | Norbert Michelisz | |
Zengõ-Dension Team BMW 320TC | |
54.126 |
| 14. | Kristian Poulsen | |
Team Engstler BMW 320TC | |
54.127 |
| 15. | Aleksei Dudukalo | |
Lukoil-SUNRED SR León 1.6T | |
54.219 |
| 16. | Franz Engstler | |
Team Engstler BMW 320TC | |
54.411 |
| 17. | Fredy Barth | |
Swiss SR León 1.6T | |
54.466 |
| 18. | Hiroki Yoshimoto | |
SUNRED SR León 1.6T | |
54.730 |
| 19. | Mehdi Bennani | |
Scuderia Proteam BMW 320TC | |
55.002 |
| 20. | Charles Ka-Ki Ng | |
Team Engstler BMW 320si | |
55.356 |
| 21. | Masaki Kano | |
DeTeam KK BMW 320TC | |
55.551 |
| OUTSIDE 107% | 57.429 | ||||
| 22. | Fabio Fabiani | |
Scuderia Proteam BMW 320si | |
58.023 |
| 23. | Pepe Oriola* | |
SUNRED SR León 1.6T | |
54.730 |
| 24. | Toshihiro Arai** | |
RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | |
disallowed |
Top-10 starting order determined reversing the order of the ten fastest drivers in Q1. * Denotes 5-place grid penalty for engine change. ** Disqualified from qualifying for failing to stop at weighbridge.
[Original images via FIA WTCC Media]
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Richard Bailey
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