Shanghai WTCC: Jose Maria Lopez dominates, Citroen secures title
Jose Maria Lopez took yet another win in the opening World Touring Car Championship race at Shanghai to further his championship lead
It was an easy drive to victory for Lopez after securing his 12th WTCC career pole in the postponed qualifying session on Sunday morning.
He led from the start and secured the manufacturers' championship for Citroen for the second year in a row.
There was heartache for home favourite and front-row qualifier Ma Qing Hua as he failed to get off the line.
Though he fought through the field in the hope of salvaging a podium, mechanical issues ultimately meant he retired with four laps to go, with question marks over his race two participation.
Yvan Muller and Sebastian Loeb had trouble-free races to round off the podium in second and third respectively in the other works Citroens.
Lada's Nicky Catsburg finished strongly in fourth position following his surprise Q3 appearance, but team-mate Rob Huff was taken out in a multi-car accident into the first corner that prompted a safety car period.
Tom Coronel's Chevrolet came off worst - left stranded in the middle of the circuit with only three wheels.
The accident also caused damage to the other ROAL Motorsport car of Tom Chilton, plus Jon Filippi and Gabriele Tarquini, all of whom retired as well as a result.
Norbert Michelisz finished in fifth despite his poor qualifying, ahead of Nicolas Lapierre and Tiago Monteiro.
RESULTS - 16 LAPS:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jose Maria Lopez | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 33m21.641s |
2 | Yvan Muller | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 2.428s |
3 | Sebastien Loeb | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 3.379s |
4 | Nicky Catsburg | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 8.905s |
5 | Mehdi Bennani | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 13.912s |
6 | Norbert Michelisz | Zengo Motorsport | Honda | 16.774s |
7 | Tiago Monteiro | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 20.662s |
8 | Hugo Valente | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 22.575s |
9 | Stefano D'Aste | All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport | Chevrolet | 26.361s |
10 | Ma Qinghua | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 4 Laps |
- | Nicolas Lapierre | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | Disqualified |
- | Gregoire Demoustier | Craft-Bamboo Racing | Chevrolet | Retirement |
- | Gabriele Tarquini | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | Retirement |
- | Rob Huff | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | Retirement |
- | John Filippi | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | Retirement |
- | Tom Chilton | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | Retirement |
- | Tom Coronel | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | Retirement |
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