Yvan Muller set a new lap record in the final moments of qualifying to set pole position for the opening FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) race in Macau.

The Frenchman set a best time of 2:28.661 in the slipstream of Lynk & Co teammate – and nephew – Yann Ehrlacher around the 3.8-mile street circuit to deny BRC Hyundai racer Norbert Michelisz by 0.068 seconds at the chequered flag.

The Hungarian will start from the outside of the front row and has a potentially crucial advantage over chief title rival Esteban Guerrieri, who could only manage a frustrating 13th in the Munnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type R.

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In a frantic start to the session, four different drivers – Ehrlacher, Nicky Catsburg (BRC Hyundai), Thed Bjork (Lynk & Co) and finally Muller held top spot before Medhi Bennani’s SLR Volkswagen crashed and brought out the red flags.

Up until that point, Michelisz’s third place was the only saving grace among a top five dominated by the Lynk & Co 03 TCR.

The order switched around again after a short stoppage, with Michelisz the first man to break into the 2:28s.

That benchmark looked likely to hand the Hungarian his first pole position since Vila Real, but Muller’s last-gasp effort proved enough to deny him.

On both previous occasions this season Muller has started from top spot – both at Ningbo – he converted them into victory; ominous indeed on a tight street circuit where overtaking opportunities are likely to be at a premium.

Andy Priaulx (Lynk & Co) and Kevin Ceccon (Team Mulsanne) both similarly improved late on to lock down the second row of the grid, with Ehrlacher rounding out the top five ahead of teammate Bjork.

Serial Macau winner Rob Huff and SLR VW stablemate Benjamin Leuchter were split either side of reigning champion Gabriele Tarquini in seventh, eighth and ninth respectively; Mikel Azcona’s PWR Racing CUPRA TCR rounds out the top ten.

Frederick Vervisch’s Audi RS 3 LMS came next, then Catsburg after dropping down the order. The aforementioned Guerrieri was 13th, with stand-in Robert Dahlgren 14th and Tiago Monteiro 15th.

Jean-Karl Vernay was another driver in strife after sliding into the barriers at Melco Hairpin – he starts 17th regardless; WRT teammate Gordon Shedden is just 24th.

Second qualifying on the streets of Macau is due to start at 05:35 (UK time).

Qualifying result