Norbert Michelisz has won his first pole position of the 2013 World Touring Car Championship season to give Honda a front-row start on home soil at this weekend’s round at the Suzuka East circuit.
The Hungarian moved into top spot during a tense final qualifying session by posting the weekend’s first sub-53-second lap time around the short 2.4-kilometre circuit on his one and only flying lap in Q2.
And when all of his chief rivals for top qualifying honours threw away their chances with mistakes or a marginal lack of pace, the Zengõ Motorsport driver was assured of pole position for Sunday’s opening 26-lap race.
Champion-elect Yvan Muller threw away his shot at pole position with a lurid slide as he hit Turn 1, while Gabriele Tarquini came undone with a trip through the Turn 3 gravel. Tarquini’s teammate Tiago Monteiro lost time in the middle sector.
That meant that Alex MacDowall and Tom Chilton were Michelisz’s closest challengers, with the former giving himself a front-row start in his Bamboo Chevrolet, ahead of RML teammates Tom Chilton and Muller.
MacDowall’s teammate James Nash and Tuenti Racing’s Pepe Oriola ensured five Chevrolets qualified in the top-seven, with the pair sandwiching Monteiro’s Honda on the timesheets.
Gabriele Tarquini – who is Yvan Muller’s sole championship rival – was eighth-fastest, and no doubt hoping that he will be on contention for a win in Race 2 when it translates into a second-row grid slot.
But the Italian will need to get ahead of the traditionally fast-starting BMWs of Tom Coronel and Mehdi Bennani, who were ninth- and tenth-fastest, which gives them the front row of the grid for Sunday’s second race. Coronel has a mighty record in Japan, and will be looking to claim his third win in his ‘adopted homeland’.
Fellow Brits Rob Huff and James Thompson made the top-twelve qualifying session as the sole SEAT and LADA runners in Q2, but neither was able to crack the top-ten, which gives them a sixth-row starting position for both races.
2013 FIA WTCC Race of Japan Q1 & Q2 Session Times:
| Driver | Team | Q2 Time | YIT | |||
| 1. | Norbert Michelisz |  |
Zengõ Motorsport Honda Civic WTCC |  |
52.886 | |
| 2. | Alex MacDowall |  |
Bamboo Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T |  |
+ 0.125 | Y |
| 3. | Tom Chilton | |
RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | |
+ 0.215 | |
| 4. | Yvan Muller |  |
RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | |
+ 0.233 | |
| 5. | James Nash | |
Bamboo Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | |
+ 0.239 | Y |
| 6. | Tiago Monteiro |  |
Castrol Honda Civic WTCC | |
+ 0.479 | |
| 7. | Pepe Oriola |  |
Tuenti Racing Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | |
+ 0.479 | Y |
| 8. | Gabriele Tarquini |  |
Castrol Honda Civic WTCC | |
+ 0.493 | |
| 9. | Tom Coronel |  |
ROAL Motorsport BMW 320TC |  |
+ 0.546 | |
| 10. | Mehdi Bennani |  |
Scuderia Proteam BMW 320TC | |
+ 0.580 | Y |
| 11. | Robert Huff | |
Münnich Motorsport SEAT León WTCC |  |
+ 0.649 | |
| 12. | James Thompson | |
LADA Sport Granta |  |
+ 0.762 | |
| Q2 CUT-OFF: 53.711 | Q1 Time | |||||
| 13. | Charles Ka-Ki Ng |  |
Liqui Moly Engstler BMW 320TC | |
53.733 | Y |
| 14. | Marc Basseng |  |
Münnich Motorsport SEAT León WTCC | |
53.812 | |
| 15. | Takuya Izawa |  |
JAS Honda Civic WTCC | |
53.827 | A |
| 16. | Fernando Monje | |
Campos Racing Team SEAT León WTCC | |
53.870 | Y |
| 17. | Hiroki Yoshimoto | |
NIKA Racing Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | |
53.986 | Y/A |
| 18. | Stefano D’Aste | |
PB Sport BMW 320TC | |
53.991 | Y |
| 19. | Darryl O’Young | |
ROAL Motorsport BMW 320TC | |
54.027 | Y |
| 20. | René Münnich | |
Münnich Motorsport SEAT León WTCC | |
54.158 | Y |
| 21. | Masaki Kano | |
Liqui Moly Engstler BMW 320TC | |
54.263 | Y/A |
| 22. | Mikhail Kozlovskiy |  |
LADA Sport Granta | |
54.292 | |
| 23. | Tom Boardman | |
Special Tune Racing SEAT León WTCC | |
54.395 | Y |
| 24. | Yukinori Taniguchi | |
Wiechers-Sport BMW 320TC | |
54.471 | Y/A |
| 25. | Jerónimo Badaraco |  |
Son Veng Racing Chevrolet Cruze LT | |
55.257 | Y/A |
| 26. | Henry Ho Wai Kun | |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si | |
55.611 | Y/A |
| 27. | Filipe de Souza | |
China Dragon Chevrolet Cruze LT | |
55.672 | Y/A |
| 28. | Ng Kin Veng | |
China Dragon Chevrolet Cruze LT | |
56.103 | Y/A |
| 29. | Mak Ka Lok | |
RPM Racing BMW 320si | |
56.478 | Y/A |
The starting order for Race 1 is determined by the qualifying results indicated above, unless states otherwise. The ten-fastest drivers – as indicated by their Q2 fastest times – start in reverse starting order for Race 2, unless stated otherwise.
‘Y’ denotes Yokohama Independent Trophy entered driver
’A’ denotes Eurosport Asia Trophy entered driver
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Richard Bailey
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