In ambient temperatures of 32 degrees centigrade, Loeb stunned his Citroën team-mates Yvan Muller and José María López to snatch his first top spot of the season with Ma Qing Hua locking out the front two rows of the grid for the French manufacturer. Tom Chilton was the top Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy contender in fifth, one place ahead of fellow Chevrolet Cruze pilot Hugo Valente. 

“It was really intense for sure because we saw already from the start of the Qualifying and knowing from before that here it would be very, very tight and you have to be nearly over the limit all of the time,” said Loeb, who won nine World Rally Championship titles before switching to the WTCC last season. “You have to take some risks and this is what I did. I made a little mistake in corner nine but finally I gained some time because of that by pushing really hard in the entry.”

Tiago Monteiro was the top Honda driver in seventh with Norbert Michelisz eighth and Jaap van Lagen ninth for LADA. Mehdi Bennani qualified P10 to earn pole position for the reverse grid second race, albeit by 0.015s.

Sunday’s 16-lap races take place at 12h45 and 14h00 local time respectively.