Photo: Citroën Racing

José María López extends lead, with Loeb now back in second

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After a strong showing at the Slovakiaring, Citroën Total WTCC’s José María López has further extended his lead in the drivers’ standings and is now 25 points clear, with Sébastien Loeb now back up into second, taking his second win of the year and capatilising on a mistake at the start by Yvan Muller.

The 31-year-old Argentinian driver had dominated every session up until Race 1, with Sébastien Loeb making a better start from second in the wet conditions in the sister C-Elysée, and went on to win the race when it was called after nine laps due to persistent rain, with López finishing second.

With the second race cancelled due to the rain continuing throughout the afternoon, which made it too dangerous for the new TC1 generation cars to race with their wider Yokohama tyres and large flat-floors, which caused the cars to slide and aquaplane more easily, López was able to extend his points lead with just the result from race one.

“I came with a ten point lead in the Championship and I’m leaving this weekend with 25 points, and now we have to think about what’s next,” said López to TouringCarTimes. “I think we showed again here that the cars were working very well, so it’s thanks to the team we were able to do this. There’s still a long way to go, even if it’s been four races already. It’s a third of the season, but it’s been so quick, only a month ago we started the Championship.

“For me, it’s been great so far. I want to keep cool in my head and do the best I can, which is not easy when I have two team-mates as good as Seb and Yvan, but so far I’ve been doing great so I’m very happy.”

Sébastien Loeb’s second win moved him back ahead of Yvan Muller, who had a weekend to forget, although the Frenchman was able to salvage a single point despite being served with a drive-through penalty for a false start, climbing through the field in the few green flag laps available.

“I made a mistake in my starting procedure, the car moved one metre, then I stopped before the red lights (went out),” said Muller. “I knew I was going to receive a drive-through and I was not attacking until I received the penalty. I was then back in traffic and I won a few places to snatch a point.”