Volvo Polestar was the team to beat in the final WTCC MAC3 time trial of 2017, with the 12 points scored putting it a step closer to the FIA World Touring Car Championship for Manufacturers.

It’s the seventh time this season that Team Volvo Polestar has got the better of rival make Honda in the Tour de France-inspired competition and ends Honda’s recent run of victories that began on home soil in Japan. It also extends its title advantage to 16.5 points with tonight’s races remaining.

However, with Norbert Michelisz nursing a brake issue in his Honda Civic WTCC, Volvo Polestar’s path to victory was made a little more straightforward although it still required an error-free performance from its winning trio of Thed Björk, Nicky Catsburg and team newcomer Yvan Muller, the four-time WTCC champion who was taking part in his first Manufacturers Against the Clock contest since China in September 2016.

Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Head of Motorsport at Polestar, said: “Yesterday we felt a little bit that we needed to improve our pace. You can focus on your strategy to win the title but trying to get your car to be quickest is probably the best strategy."

"This was a lot of work done overnight to try to improve that and I’m very satisfied that today we were on the pace. A win in WTCC MAC3 is very satisfying especially as everybody really pushed overnight to improve the car. We’re really happy.”

Esteban Guerrieri, who partnered Michelisz and Ryo Michigami at Team Honda, said: “Norbi had a problem with the brakes and we were told not to push so the guys must have seen a problem in his brake system so it was not worth to risk and we just had to cruise around to collect the points."

"Congratulations to Volvo. Of course we would have loved to have given a proper fight on track but we still have the race to do that.”

The Opening Race begins at 21h20 local time with the Main Race following at 22h35. 

Factory Honda driver Norbert Michelisz holds the advantage in the battle for FIA World Touring Car Championship glory after he went quickest in both free practice sessions at WTCC Race of Qatar this evening.

The 45-minute runs at the floodlit Losail International Circuit marked the start of the title-deciding season finale when the FIA World Touring Car Championship for Drivers and Manufacturers will be settled along with the WTCC Trophy for independent racers.

“It’s a decent start but I was struggling with overall grip on a ‘green track’ in FP1," said Hungarian Michelisz. “In the end everybody has the same issues with grip and it’s always nice to end up in the front. But I don’t think we should read too much into this because we still need to improve the set-up. It’s nice to be P1 and I hope we can continue like this through the event."

Polestar Cyan Racing’s Thed Björk, 6.5 points in front of Michelisz in the title chase, was third in FP1 and fourth in FP2. He said: “We are lacking pace in some areas. I have a good feeling though and we will keep fighting hard for tomorrow.”

WTCC Race of Qatar resumes with Qualifying from 14h30 local time on Friday.

FREE PRACTICE 1 ROUND-UP
Norbert Michelisz made the perfect start to his world title bid when he outgunned Rob Huff by 0.211s with a final-lap charge to boost his earlier advantage of 0.089s.

Thed Björk was 0.320s behind in third. Nicky Catsburg was fourth with four-time champion Yvan Muller fifth and 0.771s slower than Michelisz on his return to the WTCC in a factory Volvo, despite only recording one ‘flying’ lap. Tom Chilton lost significant track time after a brush with a tyre barrier left his Citroën with front-end damage and a lengthy repair job for his Sébastien Loeb Racing team, while Esteban Guerrieri’s session was curtailed by an oil leak in his Honda.

The Argentine nevertheless ended up as the best Losail International Circuit rookie in sixth positon for the factory Honda team. Dániel Nagy limped into the pits with a technical issue. Kris Richard stopped on track when his Campos Racing Chevrolet ground to a halt with a fuel pump problem and was pushed into the pits by trackside marshals during a red flag period.

FREE PRACTICE 2 ROUND-UP
Michelisz again proved to be the driver to beat in Free Practice 2. After topping Free Practice 1 earlier this evening with a margin of 0.211s, his fastest time in Free Practice 2 tonight was 0.702s quicker than his second-placed factory Honda team-mate Esteban Guerrieri. Behind Guerrieri, Nicky Catsburg was third fastest for Polestar Cyan Racing followed by Thed Björk, Rob Huff and WTCC Trophy title pacesetter Tom Chilton.

The 45-minute session was brought to a temporary halt shortly after it began when a collision between Zsolt Dávid Szabó and Yann Ehrlacher left the former’s Honda stranded on track with damage and the latter’s nursing a delaminated tyre. Dániel Nagy, Szabó’s Zengő Motorsport team-mate, was also involved: his switch to the left approaching Turn 6 appearing to trigger the chain reaction that led to Szabó and Ehrlacher colliding. Although Ehrlacher was able to resume his session following repairs to set the ninth fastest time for RC Motorsport, Szabó was unable to re-join the action.

Former ETCC champion Kris Richard was the fastest of the Chevrolet Cruze drivers in P12 but his running was again curtailed by mechanical problems, this time a power issue. Ryo Michigami, who was seventh fastest, parked his Honda on the exit of Turn 3 just as the chequered flag came out after he ran out of fuel. Mehdi Bennani was eighth quickest with returning four-time world champion Yvan Muller P11. “I focused on doing a long run during the session,” said the Frenchman.

Esteban Guerrieri has become the seventh different pole-sitter of the 2017 FIA World Touring Car Championship with a storming lap around the Losail International Circuit this afternoon, outpacing Nicky Catsburg for his maiden top spot by 0.414s during a tense session.

But while Guerrieri celebrated, his title-chasing factory Honda team-mate Norbert Michelisz was eliminated in Qualifying Q2 after a brake issue struck his Castrol-backed Civic, leaving him a despairing P11. And with title rival Thed Björk picking up two points for going fourth fastest in the top-five shootout, the Swede has extended his championship advantage to 8.5 points ahead of tonight’s deciding races.

Meanwhile, Rob Huff was the fastest WTCC Trophy driver in third overall, a mere 0.004s down on Catsburg with four-time champion Yvan Muller going fifth quickest on his return to the championship in the third factory Volvo, as Kevin Gleason took pole for the Opening Race after ending Q2 in the all-important P10.

“It was a very good event for us so far until Norbi had a problem in Q2 and couldn’t manage a quick lap,” said Guerrieri.

“We have one goal in common as a team and we’re still going to push of course but it’s more difficult now. My own performance was great, the car and track actually changed a lot with more heat from the sun. The car had a very different balance, it was very difficult to drive with the rear with the understeer on exit and I had to manage my driving style like everybody did to readapt a little."

"We made some tweaks here and there with the car and we managed to put a very good lap in Q3. I’m very pleased for that very happy for my first pole position in the WTCC. We will see what we can do in the races.”

QUALIFYING RECAP
Michelisz had looked the driver most likely to be on pole after topping practice on Thursday and the first segment of qualifying today, but the Hungarian lost pace during the second part of his first flying lap in Q2 and crossed the line more than two seconds behind his Argentine team-mate.

The Hungarian returned to the pits, reporting a developing braking issue, but there was no time to carry out repairs, leaving him P11 for both races. “It was not possible to push when you didn’t know what the brakes would do,” said Michelisz. “Everything happens for a reason but all is not over and we will keep fighting.”

Polestar Cyan Racing’s trio were strong throughout qualifying, with Björk, Catsburg and Muller all making it through to Q3, despite a dramatic moment in Q2 when Muller and Björk made contact, albeit with neither Volvo S60 sustaining serious damage.

In the top-five shootout, Björk set a good target lap as the first driver out, but he was soon beaten by ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport’s Rob Huff in his Citroën E-Elysée WTCC.

Muller looked set to move ahead of both drivers before the Frenchman lost time in the third sector and fell behind the pair of them, which eventually led to him qualifying fifth. Catsburg deposed Huff for provisional pole by a narrow margin of just four-thousandths of a second, but it was Guerrieri’s turn to shine for Honda, with the 32-year-old putting the #86 Civic WTCC on pole by four-tenths of a second.

Björk will line-up fourth for the Main Race, and seventh in the Opening Race, starting in front of Michelisz in both races. The Swede is now 8.5 points clear in the standings after scoring two points in qualifying, with Michelisz tasked with finding his way up the order and ahead the Volvo driver to stand any chance of winning the 2017 FIA World Touring Car Championship.

Huff’s third fastest time means the Briton was fastest in the WTCC Trophy and claims the additional point that comes with it, but just outside the top five are the two Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroëns of Tom Chilton and Mehdi Bennani, with Chilton leading the Trophy by half a point over Bennani heading into tonight’s two races.

Former ETCC champion Kris Richard impressed on his second outing in the WTCC by qualifying eighth in the Campos Racing Chevrolet Cruze, and will start third for the reversed grid Opening Race, behind John Filippi’s Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroën, and Kevin Gleason, who will line-up in pole in his RC Motorsport entry.

Tom Coronel was P12 but Ryo Michigami, Yann Ehrlacher, Zsolt Dávid Szabó and Dániel Nagy ended their qualifying at the opening phase.

The Opening Race begins at 21h20 local time with the Main Race following at 22h35. The FIA World Touring Championship for Drivers and Manufacturers as well as the WTCC Trophy for independent racers will all be decided under the floodlights at the Losail International Circuit near Doha tonight.

The most successful driver in the history of the FIA World Touring Car Championship will be back on track when the 2017 season reaches its winner-takes-all climax in Qatar this week.

Yvan Muller, who has more titles (four), more wins (48), more poles (29), more fastest laps (38) and more laps led (571) than any other driver, will switch from advising Polestar Cyan Racing’s drivers to contesting WTCC Race of Qatar in a factory Volvo S60.

He will replace Néstor Girolami, who has agreed to stand down from driving duties for the desert duel, as Volvo Polestar goes all out to land a WTCC title double.

With two races remaining at the Losail International Circuit on Friday night, Thed Björk heads the Drivers’ championship by 6.5 points with Volvo Polestar 12.5 points ahead of Honda in the battle to win the FIA World Touring Car Championship for Manufacturers.

“I am glad to be back racing again after working hard together with the team during this season to get us in a double points lead ahead of the final race weekend,” said Frenchman Muller, who retired from full-time driving at the corresponding fixture in 2016. “My objective is to help Thed become world champion and support Polestar Cyan Racing to deliver the world championship. It is going to be tough, but I have no doubt that we have what it takes to accomplish that in Qatar.”

Girolami has been fast but frequently out of luck in his first full season in the WTCC with a podium in Morocco and a pole-to-flag victory in Japan the highlights for the popular and highly capable Argentine, a double champion in his homeland. No longer in the title fight and focused on development work ahead of 2018, Girolami will be replaced for the season closer.

“I have accepted to give my place to Yvan,” said Girolami. “He is a legendary driver with more experience of the circuit in Qatar than me, which will be vital in the very close season finale. I look forward to continue our work ahead of 2018 and will follow the season finale closely.”

Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Head of Motorsport at Polestar, said: “Néstor has done a great job this season and we are very grateful for his efforts. A key part of optimising our strategy for the season finale is to bring in the most experienced and successful WTCC driver possible – Yvan Muller. His input this year has been invaluable and we look forward to seeing him behind the wheel, offering Polestar Cyan Racing the best possible chance of claiming a double world title.”

WTCC Race of Qatar, which is taking place for the third time in 2017, begins with Free Practice 1 and 2 on Thursday (30 November) followed by Qualifying, Manufacturers Against the Clock (WTCC MAC3), the Opening Race and Main Race on Friday (1 December). Both races will be held under floodlight at the Losail International Circuit located close to the Qatari capital Doha.