Ma Qing Hua proud to become first ever Chinese to win an FIA race

WTCC newcomer Ma Qing Hua became the first ever Chinese driver to win an FIA World Championship race in the second WTCC race of the day at Moscow Raceway.
”First of all, I’d like to thank every member of the team, who did everything they could to help me make quick progress. I’m really proud,” said Ma.

The Chinese started from second place on the grid in the second race and fought his way into the lead to win by just over one second ahead of Citroën team mate Yvan Muller.
”It wasn’t easy arriving in the middle of the championship, and we’ve worked really hard to make sure I was up to the task. The races were pretty lively. I had to fight hard to move up the field, particularly to get past Norbert Michelisz. I hope that I can continue in the same vein in the future,” said Ma.

Muller closed in on Ma towards the end of the race but could not get close enough to challenge for the lead. Second place in the race keeps Muller on the same distance in the points as ahead of the race weekend to team mate and championship leader José María López who retired from the second race.
”After a frustrating time in qualifying, I managed to limit the damage by scoring as many points as Pechito. It’s a shame I was hit by another driver at the start of race 2, as I could have won it. I came back at Ma at the end of the race, but I would have needed a few more laps to try and get past him,” said Muller.

López qualified on pole for the first race and won it by three seconds ahead of Honda driver Gabriele Tarquini while the second race saw the Argentinian retiring due to gearbox problems.
“Even after starting from pole position, I didn’t feel comfortable, as I knew that the Civics would make a strong start. Once again, I didn’t get away brilliantly, but I managed to cling on to the lead. I then attacked hard to pull away. It’s always satisfying to win a race like that, when you are rewarded for a good performance. I wasn’t quite as successful in race 2, but that happens. I’ll leave Moscow with the same lead in the championship standings, so it’s been a positive weekend for me,” said López.

Sébastien Loeb finished third in the first race and fifth in the second and remains in contact with Muller in the championship, seven points behind in third position.
”I spent the first race on the tail of Gabriele Tarquini, but he just didn’t slip up at all. So I ended up third, which is a good result. In race 2, I made a mistake and dirtied my tyres, but I attacked hard to recover. Fifth place isn’t the ideal result, but it does earn me some valuable points,” said Loeb.