Present: 
José María López, Citroën Total WTCC, first position
Norbert Michelisz, Honda Racing Team JAS, second position
Tom Coronel, ROAL Motorsport, third position, fastest WTCC Trophy driver
Esteban Guerrieri, Campos Racing, fifth position

Q:
Congratulations José on your fifth DHL Pole Position Award of 2016. Please can you talk us through what was a dramatic qualifying session?

JML:
I’m very happy. Honestly for me it was very important to come back a little bit from the mistakes we did in last ‘qualies’, especially in Vila Real. We worked well and in the end it was a very good result for me and the team. Obviously we knew this circuit is very good for us and the car and the team. There was a very close fight with my team-mate as always. The Honda guys were also quick and the Chevrolets of Tom and especially Esteban were really quick. I wanted to fight for pole. I knew it was very difficult but I also have to think for the championship. In the end the team told me Esteban had been penalised and I took it a bit easier on the lap because I didn’t want to do a mistake. But then I felt comfortable and I pushed in the last two sectors because the car was there for me. Five points is important for me because Tiago [Monteiro] was not in Q3 this time. It was a step forward to our objective [of winning the title]. There is still a long way to go but I am pleased how it went today.

Q:
Turning to Norbert Michelisz and second overall for Honda. How was qualifying for you?

NM:
It was a close fight in the end and the driver making the fewest mistakes was in the best position. I did not expect to finish on the first row but we had some luck with the time of Estaban being disallowed. I’ve always said the most thing is to progress. I knew with the amount of ballast I had it’s not easy on this circuit but we know with a lot of ballast we can fight and be close to Pechito. The gap was much more than a second last year but with the same ballast we are now just a couple of tenths away. I’m really confident for tomorrow – and the last half of the season – to get a podium finish. I want to get a race victory starting from the first row. It’s not going to be easy but the result in WTCC MAC3 was good and so is the progress. I forgot one more thing: congratulations to all the guys but especially to Esteban, a new driver arriving at this level and to do the performance he did I take my hat off to him for a job very well done. I’m now curious to see how well he does tomorrow.

Q:
Turning to Tom Coronel, having a spent a week and more in this country is it the Argentinian air that’s behind this good result today?

TC:
Argentina is always good, I like motor racing and also motor racing is very big in this country and there’s also the Dakar. It’s always a good fight and thanks to Esteban, he put me under pressure. It was a difficult one at the beginning but I start to feel the track a bit more and the balance of the car. To end up P3 thanks to his mistake… I should not be here. I didn’t expect to be in the top five and when I was told I was P4 in Q3 I was not so happy because the reverse grid [Opening Race] is where I can make the result. I always go for the maximum and thanks to the pressure from the newcomer. The first top 10 drivers in the Súper TC2000 championship can do very good in this championship and we need more drivers from your country to race in this championship.

Q:
Congratulations Esteban on what was a fantastic performance on your debut in the WTCC. But can you talk us through what happened before your Q3 lap?

EG:
First I want to congratulation to Pechito, Norbi and Tom for a great job and thank Norbi especially for his words. I also want to thank Campos Racing because when I arrived at this circuit I realised it was going to be something that’s good, they are very professional and they know what they are doing going into many details having raced in Europe for many years. What I like to do in motorsport is to progress and they showed me everything I needed and I am really proud of the team. For today I have mixed feelings. If it’s good to make a progression we did this and we were the fastest on the track. I’m pleased with that and I am happy to have been able to adapt to the car because even if I had knowledge of the circuit I didn’t have knowledge of the car so I had to adapt to this as much and as fast as I could. The team helped me a lot and it was a nice transition. For the qualifying I have nothing to say really. I had a small problem that meant the situation was not easy. The neutral gear didn’t work the whole day and I couldn’t wait for the lights to go green because I was worried my clutch would burn up. Now I have to put his behind me and be positive for tomorrow. There’s nothing uch more to say. I am grateful for the welcome I have had from all the people in this category from François [Ribeiro] going down.