Rob Huff scored his fourth consecutive World Touring Car Championship pole position by leading a Chevrolet 1-2-3 in qualifying at Monza.
The points leader, who has now topped qualifying at every round since Macau at the end of 2010, left it late to make it through to Q2, sitting in 13th place when the checkered flag came out at the end of the first session. His final lap was good enough though to see him through to Q2 in ninth place, also giving him second on the grid for Race 2.
It was Tiago Monteiro who finished Q1 in tenth to gain pole position for Race 2. Gabriele Tarquini and Yvan Muller will start behind Monteiro and Huff on the second row of the grid.
Muller was quickest after the first runs in Q2, but Huff moved himself up from tenth to first on his second attempt. The third Chevrolet driver Alain Menu moved himself up to third position on his third flying lap, as most of the other drivers returned to the pit lane unable to improve their times.
Norbert Michelisz was fourth in his second race in the Zengo Dension BMW, with Monteiro fifth. Darryl O'Young put his Bamboo Chevrolet Cruze on the third row of the grid in sixth place. Kristian Poulsen was seventh in his Engstler BMW, just ahead of Tom Coronel in the ROAL BMW. Mehdi Bennani qualified ninth for Proteam, while Tarquini languished down in tenth place. The window of the Italian’s left door shattered, sending pieces flying into the cockpit. He underwent checks at the medical centre to make sure nothing had entered his eyes.
Qualifying 1 result:
| Pos | Cl | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
| 1 | Tom Coronel | ROAL | BMW 320 TC | 1:59.907 | ||
| 2 | Y | Norbert Michelisz | Zengo | BMW 320 TC | 1:59.961 | 0.054 |
| 3 | Y | Kristian Poulsen | Engstler | BMW 320 TC | 2:00.005 | 0.098 |
| 4 | Y | Darryl O'Young | Bamboo | Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | 2:00.030 | 0.123 |
| 5 | Alain Menu | Chevrolet | Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | 2:00.279 | 0.372 | |
| 6 | Y | Mehdi Bennani | Proteam | BMW 320 TC | 2:00.287 | 0.380 |
| 7 | Yvan Muller | Chevrolet | Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | 2:00.382 | 0.475 | |
| 8 | Gabriele Tarquini | SUNRED | SEAT Leon 2.0 TDI | 2:00.511 | 0.604 | |
| 9 | Robert Huff | Chevrolet | Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | 2:00.515 | 0.608 | |
| 10 | Tiago Monteiro | SUNRED | SEAT Leon 2.0 TDI | 2:00.549 | 0.642 | |
| 11 | Y | Javier Villa | Proteam | BMW 320 TC | 2:00.803 | 0.896 |
| 12 | Y | Pepe Oriola | SUNRED | SEAT Leon 2.0 TDI | 2:00.861 | 0.954 |
| 13 | Y | Franz Engstler | Engstler | BMW 320 TC | 2:00.912 | 1.005 |
| 14 | Y | Michel Nykjaer | SUNRED | SEAT Leon 2.0 TDI | 2:00.971 | 1.064 |
| 15 | Y | Yukinori Taniguchi | Bamboo | Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | 2:01.534 | 1.627 |
| 16 | Robert Dahlgren | Polestar | Volvo C30 | 2:01.823 | 1.916 | |
| 17 | Y | Fredy Barth | SUNRED | SEAT Leon 2.0 TDI | 2:02.008 | 2.101 |
| 18 | Y | Aleksei Dudukalo | SUNRED | SEAT Leon 2.0 TDI | 2:02.009 | 2.102 |
| 19 | Y | Marchy Lee | KK | BMW 320 TC | 2:04.088 | 4.181 |
| 20 | Y | Urs Sonderegger | Wiechers | BMW 320 TC | 2:04.682 | 4.775 |
| 21 | Y | Ibrahim Okyay | Borusan | BMW 320si | 2:04.790 | 4.883 |
| 22 | Y | Fabio Fabiani | Proteam | BMW 320si | 2:08.789 | 8.882 |
Qualifying 2 result:
| Pos | Cl | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
| 1 | Robert Huff | Chevrolet | Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | 1:59.034 | ||
| 2 | Yvan Muller | Chevrolet | Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | 1:59.131 | 0.097 | |
| 3 | Alain Menu | Chevrolet | Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | 1:59.433 | 0.399 | |
| 4 | Y | Norbert Michelisz | Zengo | BMW 320 TC | 1:59.458 | 0.424 |
| 5 | Tiago Monteiro | SUNRED | SEAT Leon 2.0 TDI | 1:59.574 | 0.540 | |
| 6 | Y | Darryl O'Young | Bamboo | Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | 1:59.866 | 0.832 |
| 7 | Y | Kristian Poulsen | Engstler | BMW 320 TC | 2:00.010 | 0.976 |
| 8 | Tom Coronel | ROAL | BMW 320 TC | 2:00.244 | 1.210 | |
| 9 | Y | Mehdi Bennani | Proteam | BMW 320 TC | 2:00.930 | 1.896 |
| 10 | Gabriele Tarquini | SUNRED | SEAT Leon 2.0 TDI | 2:01.073 | 2.039 |
