Photo: Citroën Racing

Citroën celebrate Portugal wins for López and Ma

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José María López leaves the European leg of the season with an extended lead in the championship over team-mate Yvan Muller after his fifth victory of the season at the Circuito Vila Real, while Ma Qing Hua made it a double celebration for the French marque converting his race two pole into his second career win.

López took victory in race one ahead of team-mate Sébastien Loeb and was relatively untroubled at the street circuit which delivered a number of atypical accidents but few passes in its first appearance on the calendar.

“While it may have looked easy from the outside, stringing together 13 laps on this circuit is a proper challenge,” said López.

“It was a real mystery from the start; we didn’t know how the car would react on this piece of the circuit. In the end, everything went well and I was able to keep my advantage over Seb. I had good pace and managed to pull away rather quickly. Then, I had to cope with the heat and look after my Citroën C-Elysée WTCC.

“I could feel the car suffering on the bumps and curbs. I had to stay focused all the way to the end. I am very happy to have won on such a demanding circuit. Race 2 was chaotic, but I managed to avoid the incidents to move from 10th to 5th place. With a 55-point lead with four meetings remaining, I am in an ideal situation.”

Ma Qing Hua moved up to fourth in the drivers’ standings, putting all four Citroën drivers at the top of the table following his first win of 2015 after he was able to make use of his controversial pole and led team-mate Yvan Muller throughout the chaotic second race which was red flagged with three laps to go.

“In betting on the reverse grid in qualifying, the objective was clearly to win race 2,” said Ma.

“I was focused on not creating a possibility for Yvan to catch up to me. Even though the race ended with the red flag, it was a huge moment when I realised I had won. And it was an even bigger moment when I heard the Chinese national anthem on the podium. I am proud for my country and for Citroën, and I think that this new victory will be beneficial in the development of motor racing in China.”