Present:
José María López, Citroën Total WTCC, first position
Sébastien Loeb, Citroën Total WTCC, second position
Yvan Muller, Citroën Total WTCC, third position
Mehdi Bennani, Sébastien Loeb Racing, leading Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy contender
Tin Sritrai, Campos Racing, leading Thailand driver

Q:
WTCC career-pole number 13, your sixth DHL-presented pole position of 2015 and five more points in your quest for a second world title – not a bad morning for you José, how are pleased are you?

JML:
I want to start with congratulating all the Citroën team for doing a fantastic job again and getting five cars in Q3. We are here because of them but it was a difficult Qualifying. In the end it was good for me but it was the first time this year that in Q2 I was out with five minutes before the end and I was a bit surprised because I had made no visible mistakes. It was the first time this weekend that we had used new tyres and it was not easy. I think the key moment was the second lap in Q2 because I saw on my dash I was four-tenths behind my best lap and I said if I don’t push now it’s over. I tried to go more – sometimes when you go more you lose everything – but I improved everything I lost in the first corner with a mistake before. I said if I don’t miss the first corner in Q3 then it could be okay but I didn’t know if the others could improve. I did a clean lap and I was surprised when I was under 1m38 seconds. I was really pleased because I could feel the pressure inside for the title decider so it’s a very important to have the pole position.

Q:
And just on those five points, how much of a boost psychologically is that for this afternoon’s races?

JML:
I just said before that I just don’t like the thing that everybody is counting that I will win the championship because I have lost championships in very nice situations as well. You have to finish. Yvan, Seb have the opportunity to win championships and it’s never easy. It’s a good situation of course and if I can finish in front of Yvan in the first race it will be great because the second race is always a little tricky fighting from the back with the other cars but we will see. The only thing I would like is it happens, whether it’s the first or second race, because I know my two team-mates will fight and won’t give up. It has to be like this and we will see.

Q:
Turning to Sébastien, congratulations on P2 but could you have gone faster and was there anything you could have done differently on your lap?

SL:
I think I did a good lap. I was understeering a lot at the end of the lap and maybe I was not aggressive enough in my second sector to prepare for this. I had more understeer now than in Free Practice. I did Turn 7 flat in some practice laps but I could not do it one time in Qualifying. I had too much understeer but except for this I was satisfied with my car, my driving, I was pushing and my team is good. Pechito was again faster so congratulations but I am happy.

Q:
How much did the track temperatures affect your car – did you notice a difference?

SL:
For sure it affects as I said. The more the temperature is going up the more we understeer and the less grip we have. We will tonight how it is, it should be a bit cooler at the end of the day. Today was hot but not so bad.

Q:
Turning to Yvan that was quite a dramatic Qualifying Q1 when it was almost game over for you. Can you describe those final few seconds?

YM:
Q1 for me was very tough. It was very pleased to find a good lap on my last attempt because three minutes before the end of qually one I was P15 so I was not in Q2. It’s very exciting to start the lap in those conditions and it’s vey tough and tricky but finally I was able to find a good lap. At the same time we changed a bit the car and that helped me to do it. That’s why I am pleased with the result of Q3 because in the 17th minute of Q1 I didn’t expect to be in the Q2.

Q:
Based on what you know about the track now, what can you achieve from P3 on the grid?

YM:
Everything will depend on the first two corners I suppose because we all have the same cars and with those kind of cars when you are behind you lose the downforce and there is not much chance to do anything. We are all team-mates, we can compete of course but we can’t do any stupid thing, which is normal. Everything will be done after the first two or three laps.

Q:
Turning to Mehdi, the fastest Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy contender but you also made it to Q3, which is equally significant for you. Can you summarise your performance please?

MB:
For sure it was our best qualifying today because I was P1 and P2 in Q2 and Q1. When I heard I had four factory drivers with me in Q3 it is not the best thing because if I have to do very good lap times with these drivers I need to drive to the limit and even past the limit. I past a bit the limit in sector three and lose three-tenths but I really took a lot of pleasure from driving and pushing to the limit. To be there and to be close to the factory drivers is very nice for me.

Q:
Turning to Tin and welcome to the WTCC. How satisfied have you been with your performances through the various sessions so far?

TS:
It’s very hard for me because it’s my first time in the Chevrolet and my first time in WTCC Qualifying. I improved from the first day but the WTCC is number one in the world in touring cars and I need time to learn. But at least I was not the slowest driver!