Photo: Polestar Cyan Racing

Thed Björk claims Volvo’s first pole in the WTCC

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Thed Björk has claimed Volvo’s first pole position in the WTCC at Monza, fighting off Honda’s Tiago Monteiro and Citroën’s Rob Huff in a close-right during the one-lap shootout.

In the first part of qualifying, Honda’s Tiago Monteiro was the first to break under the 1:53 barrier, but was soon bettered by Rob Huff in the Münnich Citroën, with the Brit stringing together a pair of quick laps to go fastest of all with a time of 1:52.754.

The Polestar Volvos then demonstrated the benefit of the Monza slipstream, with all three cars working together and taking over at the top, with Néstor Girolami leading Thed Björk and Nicky Catsburg in the 20-minute session.

Safely into Q2, the Volvos would work together again, with Björk now going fastest in the first run. Honda’s Tiago 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 Björk.

Joining Björk in the top five shootout were his two Volvo team-mates, along with Monteiro and Münnich’s Rob Huff.

A late improvement for ROAL Chevrolet driver Tom Coronel, who had been forced to abort his first run due a mistake at the Della Roggia, saw the Dutchman grab tenth and pole position for the reversed grid opening race, knocking Honda’s Ryo Michigami out of the top ten.

In the top five shootout, Rob Huff was first out and set a competitive benchmark with a time of 1:52.968, while Volvo’s Néstor Girolami made a mistake at the Della Roggia and backed off, expecting his time to be deleted.

Volvo team-mate Nicky 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.

Honda’s Tiago 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.

Thed Björk’s lap decimated Monteiro’s however, with the Swede up in every sector, setting a time of 1:52.505 to grab his and Volvo’s first pole position in the WTCC, though he also ran wide at the Parabolica.

Björk will start from pole for the 11-lap main race on Sunday ahead of Monteiro and Huff, with the Volvos of Nicky Catsburg and Néstor Girolami completing the top five.

Honda’s Norbert Michelisz just missed the top five shootout and will start in sixth, ahead of Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroën driver Tom Chilton and Morocco Race 1 winner Esteban Guerrieri’s Chevrolet, with the Citroën of Mehdi Bennani and the Chevrolet of Tom Coronel completing the top ten.