Catsburg blasts to surprise Lada pole in wet

Nicky Catsburg has claimed an emphatic first pole in the World Touring Car Championship for both him and LADA as the Russian manufacturer dominated a wet qualifying on home turf.

Catsburg produced untouchable palce through difficult conditions, leading both Q1 and Q2 before claiming pole position by 1.438 seconds in shootout.

It was a session which Lada stamped authority all over with Catsburg's team-mates Gabriele Tarquini and Hugo Valente completing a 1-2-3 at Moscow Raceway.

The biggest challenge to LADA came from stand-in driver James Thompson for Munnich Motorsprot, who secured fourth on the grid on his third appearance of the year.

Norbert Michelisz rounded out the top five in the Q3 shootout, as championship leader Jos? Mar?a L?pez was forced to take sixth in his Citroen. Tom Coronel was seventh ahead of Yvan Muller, as Mehdi Bennani and Tiago Monteiro completed the top ten starters.