Citroën driver Muller beat team-mate and current championship leader José María López to top spot by 0.046s with Gabriele Tarquini third for Honda and Rob Huff fourth for LADA, the first appearance by the Russian team in Qualifying Q3. And with Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy pacesetter Tom Chilton fifth in his Chevrolet Cruze, it means four manufacturers are represented in the top five to underline the WTCC’s hugely competitive nature.

Following his sub-qualifying lap record performance, Muller, who won the inaugural WTCC Race of Russia in 2013, said: “To be on pole position is always important – now I need to do a good start in the race tomorrow. My lap was good, there was no real mistake and generally I was quite pleased with the whole of the lap. It shows the level of championship when the results are so tight.”

Elsewhere, Ma Qing Hua, who won on his WTCC debut in Russia last season, was sixth, Hugo Valente seventh and Norbert Michelisz eighth. WTCC rookie Nicky Catsburg took ninth for LADA with Tiago Monteiro 10^th to claim pole position for the reverse grid second race. “We realised very quickly we were not going for pole so we decided to be smart and use the rules to our advantage by going for 10^th place,” said Honda driver Monteiro. “It’s not a guarantee we will win the second race because we now need to find a good set-up and I’m a little bit behind with that this weekend.”

Muller’s second pole of 2015 earns him five bonus points and puts him ahead of fellow Citroën driver Sébastien Loeb in the drivers’ standings behind López. Loeb was 11^thquickest after conceding he had made some mistakes during Q2, insisting he was not chasing the all-important 10^th place. Jaap van Lagen was also eliminated in the second phase of qualifying, while Mehdi Bennani, Tom Coronel, Stefano D’Aste, Grégoire Demoustier, Rickard Rydell and John Filippi were unable to progress beyond Q1.

Sunday’s action features two 16-lap races with race one getting underway at 12h15 local time followed by race two at 13h25. Eurosport, the leading pan-regional sports entertainment destination, will broadcast extensive live coverage of ROSNEFT WTCC Race of Russia with both encounters shown as they happen on the Eurosport network, Eurosport Player and on a number of other TV channels around the world.

WTCC champions in Qualifying Q3
Yvan Muller (2008, 2010, 2011, 2013)
José María López (2014)
Gabriele Tarquini (2009)
Rob Huff (2012)

Qualifying points
Yvan Muller: 5pts
José María López: 4
Gabriele Tarquini: 3
Rob Huff: 2
Tom Chilton: 1

Media diary: Sunday 7 June
08h00-12h00: Media Accreditation Centre open
08h00-until the last journalist leaves: Media Centre open
10h00-10h45: WTCC driver autograph session (WTCC VIP Club)
10h55: FIA Action for Road Safety photo call with all WTCC drivers (WTCC VIP Club)
11h50: Pit lane open
12h00: Pit lane closed
12h10: Five-minute board displayed
12h15: WTCC Race 1 (16 laps)
12h50 (approx.): WTCC podium race 1
12h55: WTCC refuelling time starts
13h00: WTCC repair time starts
13h05: Pit lane open
13h15: Pit lane closed
13h20: Five-minute board displayed
13h25: WTCC Race 2 (16 laps)
14h00 (approx.): WTCC podium race 2
14h10 (approx.): WTCC post-race press conference (Media Centre)