Lopez tops WTCC qualifying in Moscow

Points leader Jose Maria Lopez bounced back from free practice struggles to claim pole position for round six of the World Touring Car Championship at Moscow Raceway. The Citroen star, who is contesting his debut season in the championship, also extends his lead in the drivers' standings to 46 points over reigning champion Yvan Muller.

The Frenchman was a surprising omission from the final stage of qualifying, after battling an apparently oversteer-prone C-Elysee in Q2.

Factory Honda racers Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro capitalised on Muller's troubles and produced their finest qualifying showing of the season, the Civic duo claiming second and third.

Tarquini will start alongside Lopez on the front row of Sunday's opening race, having ended Q3 0.226 second behind Lopez's benchmark time of 1m38.651s.

Nine-time World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb edged out leading RML Chevrolet Cruze competitor Tom Chilton by 0.118sec to claim fourth place.

Privateer Honda runners Mehdi Bennani and Norbert Michelisz ended the session seventh and eighth, which seals the pair second row starting positions for the reversed-grid race two.

Campos Chevrolet driver Hugo Valente picks up pole for the second race, courtesy of 10th-fastest time in Q2, where the Frenchman will head 2014 WTCC debutant Ma Qing Hua in the fourth of this year's dominant factory Citroens. Fellow WTCC newcomer Nikita Misiulia is set to start from last in his TC2 Campos Seat Leon.

Hungaroring winner Gianni Morbidelli suffered damage to his Munnich Chevrolet Cruze after running wide on the exit of the high-speed Turn 6. The Italian sustained damage to his front splitter, which contributed to his qualifying position of 17th.