Photo: WTCC Media

José María López extends his points advantage in Morocco

Citroën’s José María López has extended his points advantage over team-mate Sébastien Loeb to 17 points after a win and a third place finish in Marrakech, while Yvan Muller moves up to third after taking victory in the second race of the weekend.

The reigning champion had a strong first race, only briefly challenged at the start by Ma Qing Hua in the sister Citroën C-Elysée WTCC, while he had to fight his way forward from tenth on the grid to grab third at the finish which saw him limit the points damage to his two team-mates who finished ahead of him in race two.

“The first race the start was very difficult, I actually hand to fend off Ma in the first corner, and then I had him behind me on the first lap so I was under pressure, but then I started to push a little bit and I was able to pull out a little bit,” said López.

In race two, courtesy of the reversed grid, López would start from tenth position, and with drama at the first corner with the accident between ROAL’s Tom Coronel, Zengő’s Norbert Michelisz and Honda’s Tiago Monteiro, the 31-year-old was able to avoid getting involved and was fifth by the end of the first lap.

“It was difficult, as P5 for me was the main objective to not lose too many points to YVan Muller and Sébastien Loeb, and I also had Chilton and Valente in front of me, which we saw yesterday were very quick, so I was quite worried to be honest.

“I did a good start and then little by little I was trying to pass the cars and had a good fight with Valente. P3 is more than I expected, so I’m very happy to start the season like this, four podiums in the first four races, I’m very happy.”