And with Hugo Valente lining up at the front for the reverse-grid race two at Twin Ring Motegi, Saturday 12 September will be a day for the independents to remember.

Armed with a Yokohama-shod Honda Civic WTCC, Michelisz made light of the sweltering temperatures and the pressure of being the final driver to take to the 4.801-kilometre track in the one-lap Qualifying Q3 showdown to set a pole-winning time of 1m55.596s. The Zengő Motorsport-run driver’s last-gasp effort brings to an end Citroën’s clean sweep of pole positions in 2015 and hands the Hungarian the third top start of his career and Honda’s fifth in the WTCC.

Michelisz, who got married during the WTCC’s summer break, said: “These are the three most happy weeks of my life because of the wedding and because of a fantastic weekend so far. I said many times it’s good to win second races but for me the most important thing is to be there from the first corner of the first race. I knew we had some updates but I was not expecting a step like this so I have to say to everyone involved they did a fantastic job. Okay it was a good lap but without these improvements it would have been impossible to have this fantastic day. Hopefully tomorrow we will have another beautiful day.”

World championship leader José María López will join Michelisz on the front row of the grid for the first 13-lap contest as Sébastien Loeb, Mehdi Bennani – Michelisz’s closest rival in the Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy – and Ma Qing Hua completed the top five in their Citroën C-Elysée WTCCs.

While Argentine López missed out on a fifth pole of 2015, his four points for second place means his lead over Citroën team-mate Yvan Muller rises to 59 points after Muller was unable to progress beyond Q2.

Meanwhile, Gabriele Tarquini said his failure to make it into Qualifying Q3 was down to him making too many mistakes in his Honda. Having set the pace in all three previous track sessions in Japan, the Italian will start in a disconsolate sixth for race one with Yvan Muller one place behind. Tiago Monteiro was eighth fastest with Tom Chilton initially ninth and Nicky Catsburg in P10, which appeared to hand pole to the LADA driver for the reverse grid second race. However, when Chilton’s best lap in Q2 was disallowed for a track limit infringement, Catsburg moved up to ninth while Hugo Valente, one of the WTCC’s emerging young drivers, was promoted to P10 and race two pole in his independent Chevrolet. WTCC rookie and Le Mans 24 Hours class winner Nicolas Lapierre also impressed by reaching Q2 at his first attempt.

Former WTCC champion Rob Huff, who was hampered in Free Practice by a throttle issue, topped the drivers who failed to progress further than Q3. Grégoire Demoustier, Tom Coronel, John Filippi and Stefano D’Aste were also eliminated at the first knockout stage.

Despite heavy flooding in parts of Japan – including in areas close to Twin Ring Motegi – following the recent typhoon, Sunday’s timetable will be unaffected. However, pole-sitter Michelisz had a message of support for local people. “We have to remember sometimes how lucky a position we are in. Our problems look ridiculous sometimes compared to the problems that some of the people in the world have. My message to the people affected by the flooding is that the thoughts of every member of the WTCC family are with them. We hope the situation will change rapidly and I really hope for the best for them.”

And Sunday’s racing at Motegi, which is hosting the WTCC for the first time in 2015, promises to be action-packed with Coronel, WTCC Race of Japan’s most successful driver courtesy of his three victories in the country, saying: “The circuit layout is one of the best we have in the WTCC for overtaking.”

Qualifying points: Michelisz (5pts); López (4); Loeb (3); Bennani (2); Ma (1)