​Yvan Muller claims first WTCR pole of 2019 in China

The Frenchman claimed pole by a mere 50 thousands of a second and will start the first race of the weekend from the front row.

"I was on the limit everywhere on my lap and feels great to be on pole, especially here, the home of Lynk & Co. But this is only the first part of the job, the race is next. It is difficult to overtake here but at the same time the circuit is tough on the tyres and a lot of things can happen. It will be an interesting race," said Yvan Muller.

Andy Priaulx was second best of the Lynk & Co Cyan Racing drivers eleventh position ahead of team-mate Thed Björk in 12th position.

"I'm quite positive, this was my best session since the beginning of the weekend, especially as I haven't been here before. A brilliant job by Yvan but we need to find out why we could not match his times," said Andy Priaulx.

"I am obviously disappointed with this result and we have an issue to solve, especially looking at the great work by my team-mate Yvan who claimed pole position," said Thed Björk.

Yann Ehrlacher's issues from the practice sessions continued in qualifying and was hindered by a loose hood latch on his final lap and claimed position 15 on the grid.

"It was a really difficult session. This is the first time I am this far off my team-mates. We need to analyse to improve this for the rest of the weekend," said Yann Ehrlacher.

Two drivers (Guerrieri and Ceccon) have grid penalties and will be moved down the order of the grid.

Next up is the first race of the weekend, starting at 15:40 local time / 09:40 CEST.

Results Qualifying 1

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