Photo: Citroën Racing

Yvan Muller concerned car may not be repaired for France

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Citroën Total WTCC driver Yvan Muller has voiced his concern that his C-Elysée WTCC car may also not be able to repaired before next weekend’s race at the Paul Ricard circuit, the Frenchman’s first home race since the 2009 season.

Muller’s car was heavily damaged at the start of race two, when Tom Coronel’s ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet bounced back across the track after hitting the wall after an incident with Mehdi Bennani, and slammed into the front of Muller’s Citroën.

“Unfortunately somebody hit Coronel, and Coronel was in the wall, I thought I could avoid him but he came back (across the track) and I couldn’t do anything,” said Muller after the race.

“I feel a bit sad, first because of the result and because the car is very damaged. The next meeting starts in four days and I’m not sure to be on the grid for the next race. It’ll be the same probably for Coronel, it’ll be the same probably for some others. I think it was very stupid to put one race behind the other, especially with Marrakech as the first race,” he added.

Muller finished third in race one behind his two team-mates José María López and Sébastien Loeb after losing his best lap in qualifying on Saturday after cutting a chicane. The four-time champion admitted the team’s goal was to preserve the result today and ensure the best result for their debut, with Citroën Total WTCC scoring a strong 1-2-3 and 1-2 result in today’s races.

“For me the target in race one was for the team, just to pass (Tom) Chilton and then stay on the podium until the end, as it would be too risky to try and fight my team-mates on this kind of circuit, so for me after the third braking point the race was almost over.”

Yvan Muller’s car will be one of three cars requiring significant repair work after Marrakech, with Tom Coronel’s ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet most certainly set to miss the French round. Honda’s Gabriele Tarquini missed this weekend’s races after damage sustained in FP2 on Saturday, and his car is off to Paul Ricard ahead of time to be re-shelled before Friday’s first test session.