Shanghai WTCC: Citroen's Ma Qing Hua and Yvan Muller lead practice
Chinese racer Ma Qing Hua set the fastest time in World Touring Car Championship practice at Shanghai
Ma's lap of 1m51.032s, recorded in the second of Saturday morning's two practice sessions, was 0.028 seconds quicker than reigning champion Yvan Muller's practice one effort.
Last week's Goldenport meeting was the first round of the season in which a Citroen driver failed to achieve a victory, but the C-Elysees returned to their regular dominance at Shanghai, occupying four of the top six positions in practice one and four of the top five places in the second session.
Ma was 0.467s clear of championship leader and Citroen team-mate Jose Maria Lopez in practice two.
Lopez holds a commanding 66-point lead in the drivers' standings with only three events remaining, and said he will be managing the risks this weekend in an attempt to clinch the championship before the notoriously unpredictable Macau finale.
"Even if it didn't look like it, already in Beijing I took my margins when overtaking," said Lopez. "I didn't risk as maybe I did in [the Argentinean round at] Termas or other races. But my mentality is going to be the same, which is to try to give my best."
Honda's Gabriele Tarquini trailed Muller by 0.213s to take a fine second place in the opening session, followed by Ma, Lopez and the second JAS driver Tiago Monteiro.
Rally legend Sebastien Loeb finished a relatively subdued sixth in the opening session before improving to take third place in practice two.
Mehdi Bennani surprised in practice two as he claimed top-Honda honours in fourth place ahead of Muller.
Beijing Goldenport winner Tom Chilton complained of a severe lack of straightline speed in the final sector during testing on Friday, but the Briton made a marked improvement in practice one to take seventh.
Campos Racing's Hugo Valente usurped Chilton as the leading Chevrolet performer in second practice and equalled Chilton's earlier seventh position.
Valente's team-mate Dusan Borkovic damaged a front-right wheel-arch during a spin during first practice. The Serbian had failed to complete a lap on Friday after his Cruze suffered a steering-pump failure, possibly related to a heavy shunt at Goldenport.
PRACTICE ONE:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Yvan Muller | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1m51.060s | - |
2 | Gabriele Tarquini | Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda | 1m51.273s | 0.213s |
3 | Jose Maria Lopez | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1m51.326s | 0.266s |
4 | Ma Qinghua | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1m51.588s | 0.528s |
5 | Tiago Monteiro | Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda | 1m51.627s | 0.567s |
6 | Sebastien Loeb | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1m51.771s | 0.711s |
7 | Tom Chilton | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1m51.790s | 0.730s |
8 | Norbert Michelisz | Zengo Motorsport | Honda | 1m51.885s | 0.825s |
9 | Tom Coronel | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1m52.403s | 1.343s |
10 | Mehdi Bennani | Proteam Racing | Honda | 1m52.610s | 1.550s |
11 | Hugo Valente | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 1m52.864s | 1.804s |
12 | Dusan Borkovic | NIS Petrol by Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 1m53.146s | 2.086s |
13 | Gianni Morbidelli | All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1m53.736s | 2.676s |
14 | Rene Munnich | All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1m53.778s | 2.718s |
15 | Rob Huff | LADA Sport Lukoil | Lada | 1m53.900s | 2.840s |
16 | Mikhail Kozlovskiy | LADA Sport Lukoil | Lada | 1m53.998s | 2.938s |
17 | James Thompson | LADA Sport Lukoil | Lada | 1m54.526s | 3.466s |
18 | Franz Engstler | Liqui Moly Team Engstler | BMW | 1m56.804s | 5.744s |
19 | John Filippi | Campos Racing | SEAT | 1m58.043s | 6.983s |
20 | Filipe Souza | Liqui Moly Team Engstler | BMW | 2m00.464s | 9.404s |
21 | William Lok | Campos Racing | SEAT | 2m01.481s | 10.421s |
PRACTICE TWO:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ma Qinghua | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1m51.032s | - |
2 | Jose Maria Lopez | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1m51.499s | 0.467s |
3 | Sebastien Loeb | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1m51.541s | 0.509s |
4 | Mehdi Bennani | Proteam Racing | Honda | 1m51.618s | 0.586s |
5 | Yvan Muller | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 1m51.662s | 0.630s |
6 | Norbert Michelisz | Zengo Motorsport | Honda | 1m51.695s | 0.663s |
7 | Hugo Valente | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 1m51.796s | 0.764s |
8 | Dusan Borkovic | NIS Petrol by Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 1m51.812s | 0.780s |
9 | Gabriele Tarquini | Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda | 1m51.842s | 0.810s |
10 | Tiago Monteiro | Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda | 1m52.096s | 1.064s |
11 | Tom Coronel | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1m52.245s | 1.213s |
12 | Tom Chilton | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1m52.685s | 1.653s |
13 | James Thompson | LADA Sport Lukoil | Lada | 1m53.000s | 1.968s |
14 | Gianni Morbidelli | All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1m53.248s | 2.216s |
15 | Rene Munnich | All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport | Chevrolet | 1m53.545s | 2.513s |
16 | Rob Huff | LADA Sport Lukoil | Lada | 1m53.931s | 2.899s |
17 | Mikhail Kozlovskiy | LADA Sport Lukoil | Lada | 1m54.933s | 3.901s |
18 | Franz Engstler | Liqui Moly Team Engstler | BMW | 1m56.114s | 5.082s |
19 | John Filippi | Campos Racing | SEAT | 1m56.826s | 5.794s |
20 | William Lok | Campos Racing | SEAT | 2m00.416s | 9.384s |
21 | Filipe Souza | Liqui Moly Team Engstler | BMW | 2m00.462s | 9.430s |
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