José María López takes an emotional double victory at home

Citroën Total WTCC’s José María López won both races at his home circuit at Termas de Río Hondo to extend his lead to a healthy 60 points heading into the two month break in the WTCC, before the next rounds of the Championship in China in October.

The Argentine led from pole to finish in race one, while put on a masterclass in overtaking in race two, driving from tenth to first, securing his first ‘double’, two wins in the same weekend, the ninth time this has happened in the Championship’s ten year history.

“Some people may find it a bit too corporate to start by thanking everyone, but that’s just what I feel like doing right now,” said López. “Without my family and without Citroën, I wouldn’t be here. I am proud to be part of Citroën Racing, and to have Yvan and Seb as team-mates. My wealth of experience on this circuit helped me a lot, but I was worried about the starts, which remain a weakness for me. Thankfully, this time, everything went OK. Race 2 was really exciting. The car just got quicker and quicker and I managed to work my way up the field into first place. It’s been a perfect weekend, and there’s no place I’d rather have produced a performance like that.”

“This weekend has been one of the most emotional in the history of Citroën Racing. He might not have shown it much, but Pechito was under enormous pressure; he was desperate to do well in front of his home crowd. He dug deep and became the first driver this year to record a perfect score. Yvan did everything he could to stay with him, but the gap in the World Championship standings is widening. That is not to say the rest of the season won’t be interesting, however, as there are new circuits for us to discover.”

Yvan Muller secured two third place finishes to score an important 30 points in the drivers’ championship. The reigning champion followed the Honda of Norbert Michelisz to the flag in the first race, while had to move forward from ninth on the grid in race two, which featured a two-lap, side-by-side battle with his team-mate of last season, Tom Chilton.

“You should never give up, but I have to acknowledge that José was quicker than me this weekend,” said Muller. “Once I realised that, I had to limit the damage and try not to fall too far behind in the World Championship. The team did a brilliant job and I did my best to exploit the car’s full potential. I found race 2 quite fun, particularly my battle with Chilton.”

WTCC standings after Termas de Río Hondo

Provisional, pending the appeal of Campos Racing