Present:
Norbert Michelisz, Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team, DHL Pole Position winner
Rob Huff, ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport, second position, fastest in WTCC Trophy
Thed Björk, Polestar Cyan Racing, third position
Tiago Monteiro, Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team, top Portuguese driver
Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Team Volvo Polestar, WTCC MAC3 winner representative

Q: 
Congratulations on your second consecutive WTCC pole, which equals Andy Priaulx’s record of five poles and means you upstaged your team-mate and local hero Tiago Monteiro. So talk us through your lap?

NM:
Yes, I'm really happy with pole position in qualifying. But I have to tell you it wasn’t an easy session. I had some problems with my stomach all week and the excitement combined with these problems made it quite difficult for me to exploit fully my capabilities. So I tried to save everything I had for Q2 and Q3. And it worked out well so I’m really happy because from the first moment the car was working really good. Scoring two pole positions in a row is a nice feeling. You can see that the car is working pretty well on all different kinds of circuits which makes us confident for the rest of the season. I'm a bit sorry for Tiago, I think he had the pace to be up front but I'm sure he'll make up some places tomorrow.

Q:
The ‘joker’ lap will be used for the first time in the WTCC tomorrow. How much of a factor will it be?

NM:
For sure it will change things, but having the fastest car makes it a bit easier with strategy, because you really have more possibilities. Especially in the opening race. Because with the tight championship we have every point can make a difference in the end and with the ‘joker’ lap I think we have a possibility to finish a bit further up the order in the Opening Race. And of course in the Main Race the full focus is on the standing start and then afterwards let's wait and see. Of course there is some racing involved while waiting for the ‘joker’ lap but we just have to do a good teamwork with everyone being focused, watching out for the gaps and just to make the right decisions.

Q:
Thank you very much. We'll come next to Rob Huff. Second position here in Vila Real. Rob, great qualifying performance by you, first in WTCC Trophy and second overall…

RH:
Really, really genuinely pleased. I really felt that we got the most out of the car, there's always a room for one or two tenths on a street circuit like this, but every time we went out with fresh tyres we went faster and faster and really maximised the car. The team did a great job. Every change we made on the car this morning in the practice sessions we were faster and faster. So I'm genuinely really really pleased to be on the front row. Huge congratulations to Norbi for two pole positions in a row. We've got some work to do, obviously, because we’re still seven tenths behind but you know the 30 kilos makes a good difference around here and that's what it's there for. Just genuinely really really pleased. We got a good lap, the fastest lap we did all weekend was in the Q3 on that one lap so yes, chuffed to bits.

Q:
And you obviously got the chance to drive through the ‘joker’ lap. How much difference will it make?

RH:
I don't know. I mean, ultimately it depends on how much you attack it. I don't really care either way to be honest with you about the ‘joker’ lap. It's there, we do it and we find out tomorrow exactly what impact it has on the championship and the races itself. As Norbi said we sort of got good strategies effectively for both of us in both races so yes, we'll have to see. People are going to win, people are going to lose and hopefully we can do the earlier version.

Q:
We come next to third position driver Thed Björk. You ended the session with a car that looked quite second hand. What happened to you?

TB:
It's a really tough circuit. The car felt really well so I kept pushing faster and faster and I nudged the wall - I told my team. So just some cosmetics on the left side. I'm happy it was not more. It's a big challenge to drive here and I was really impressed with Norbert's time, he did a really good job. So I tried as hard as I could all the time and this is what happens you know. It feels good to have the speed that I have, I have a good feeling so I look forward to tomorrow.

Q:
With the ‘joker’ lap in mind and as part of the a three-car team, what’s the plan for tomorrow?

TB:
We don't tell you! That's going to be interesting. But obviously having three cars we can play more and Honda as well and Huff is still a little bit by himself so we see if we can take advantage of that in some way. Like Norbert said, if you have a fast car it's easier, so you can dictate more the speed of the pace, even with a joker lap. If you have the speed it's easier I think. It will be interesting.

Q:
Tiago, for a while pole position looked on after you went quickest in Q2 for example. But it didn’t quite come together in Qualifying Q3. So what happened?

TM:
First of all, well done to Norbi, he did a fantastic job. We did have a great car today and we could have done a very good overall result but I'm very happy with this lap and of course you two boys as well are happy about your laps. As you saw the car was strong and I was really confident and went faster than my pole position from last year here in Q2 and I knew there was still margin, we were always improving in street tracks. I was still doing okay on my Q3 lap and I started to feel a little bit less grip for some reason so I thought maybe I was pushing a bit too hard and in the end it's the leaking dampers. As you could see in the last corner a big slide it was oil coming from the front damper to the rear tyres and obviously it made things a little bit harder but still even so I think first row was doable as I was still doing the same lap times of my Q2 times. In the end a little bit frustrated of course, yes, but it was going to be difficult to catch Norbi, he was really fast. Top five is still very good and we can still race from there and see what we can do. Maybe now I'm happier about the ‘joker’ lap so I'll try to take advantage of that somehow.

Q:
Two points in qualifying puts you two behind Nicky Catsburg in the world championship. How much will the championship be playing on your mind during the races tomorrow?

TM:
It will start to come into mind. When you lose 40 points in one weekend now you have to think about more seriously whereas before we were just doing race by race and trying to score as many points as possible. Tomorrow I will take some risks to try to go for a podium but I will think about the championship too, it’s very important.

Q:
Thank you Tiago and coming next to Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Head of Motorsport at Polestar. A fourth WTCC MAC3 win for the team after a great performance. Can you talk us through that first of all?

AMS:
First of all I would like to congratulate both Michelisz for a fantastic pole and Monteiro for the best save of the day, fantastic car control.

TM:
Thank you, it was hard.

AMS:
It’s the second time this season we had two limping teams after a very tough qualifying session. I think our supplier of tank tape was really happy as well as our supplier of carbon fibre and we are probably at the level where we can get the tank tape in our own colour and this time it will be blue! It’s fantastic to come here, a fantastic audience, it’s not easy to turn a small town into a race track so fantastic job to the guys and girls involved in that. We are very happy with the result, obviously, claiming 12 points for the championship. On the other hand both us and Honda if we were very honest we would perhaps like some repair time to get the cars in order and really fight for it and do a better show for the audience who have come today. But the rules are what they are and you have to take it from how much is possible from the capacity that’s left on the cars and we did so we’re really happy about that.

Q:
Performance-wise in qualifying it perhaps wasn’t the ultimate performance. Is there anything you can put that down to?

AMS:
Obviously it’s the compensation weight. We had a fantastic weekend at the Nürburgring and we’re paying for it now. And with the extra weight it does make a difference on a track like this. Even still it’s one of the fastest city tracks around so we are quite happy we can leverage the strength of the car but still the weight does pay some additional challenge for us at this race.

Q:
And a final word on the ‘joker’ lap initiative that’s new for the championship. What’s your view?

AMS:
I just agree with the rest. Why even bother to try to make a strategy? If you’re quick that’s the best thing going for you. We are all in a sense in the entertainment business and motorsport is entertainment at the end of the day. People could either choose to go to the beach or watch football on TV or come here to this beautiful town of Vila Real. For the audience this is good, it’s very important people can distinguish who has done the ‘joker’ lap and who has not. But at the end of the day it's the same for everybody. We’ve seen some excitement in rallycross so I don’t see a negative of trying something that can improve the experience.