José María López uncatchable by non-Citroën drivers
Despite the first weekend without a win in Citroën’s World Touring Car Championship history, the French manufacturer left Beijing with the drivers’ crown in hand.
The combination of a third and a fourth place for José María López and a zero-points scoring weekend for Honda’s Tiago Monteiro left the Argentinian and team-mates Yvan Muller and Sébastien Loeb the only drivers left to be in with a shot at the title.
Yves Matton, team principal, said: “On paper, this winding little circuit was not the best-suited to our Citroën C-Elysée WTCCs, particularly with the advantage granted to our rivals through the compensation weights system. For the first time this year, we have come out of a weekend without winning a race, but we have nevertheless made good strides towards securing the two World Championships. Our thoughts now turn to Shanghai, which will be a particularly important meeting for Citroën.”
As early as three weekends before the end of the championship the French manufacturer has a 1-2-3 in the Drivers’ table, with José María López a stunning 66 points ahead of team-mate Yvan Muller and some 101 more than Loeb.
López only failed to score in Moscow in Race 2, and won seven races compared to the four won by Muller and two for Loeb. Despite the clear gap opened by the Argentinean, though, the championship is not over, as there are still 165 points at stake.
“For the team as a whole, this weekend has been more difficult than the others,” admitted López. “The other teams have been working really hard over the last few weeks and the performance gap is closing all the time. As far as I’m concerned, everything is going in the right direction and I’ve extended my lead again. But the championship is not over yet. There are still three meetings and six races left.”
López looked particularly strong in Race 2, as he was the most active overtaker in the field, as well as almost passing Loeb on the last lap to take another podium finish, which eventually went to the Frenchman, who struggled in the first heat.
“In race 1, I had trouble handling my tyres, which were behaving quite unpredictably,” explained the nine-times World Rally Champion. “The second race was better. I was a little bit faster than Tom Coronel over the first few laps, but not enough to get past him. I made a slight mistake at the end, and José came back at me. It was really close, but I’m happy to have kept my podium place.”
Should López’s strong form continue, he may well get to Suzuka, the second-to-last event of the season, with a very serious chance of clinching the title in Japan, in what is effectively his rookie season in the World Touring Car Championship. Citroën should also win the Manufacturers’ championship at Shanghai.
Despite not being optimistic as to his chances of winning the title, Yvan Muller says he will not give up:“I got off to a good start in race 1. I gave it my all to stay in touch with Tom Chilton, but he was just too fast. It was the same story in race 2: I couldn’t get past him! I’ve fallen a few points further behind in the Championship, so I’m not particularly optimistic about the end of the season. But I’ll continue to give of my best!”
Behind the Citroëns, though, the battle is raging. Tiago Monteiro is the ‘best of the rest’ at the moment, with 146 points to his tally. Despite scoring no points in China, the Honda driver is still fourth in the championship, 20 points ahead of team-mate Gabriele Tarquini.
The Italian had to retire from third in the first race and came tenth in the second behind former team-mate Yvan Muller, leaving Beijing with 5 points added to his total. Tom Coronel replicated his best season result by claiming second in Race 2, scoring exactly the same amount of points as Honda’s Norbert Michelisz, who is sixth tied on points with the Dutchman.
ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Chilton closed in on his team-mate by scoring pole position, a win and an eighth, and is now just a point shy of Coronel. Gianni Morbidelli is ninth, 43 points behind Monteiro, and the Chevrolet driver is the last man above the 100 points barrier.
The top ten is closed by Race 2 winner Rob Huff, who has 66 points in the standings, 29 of which were scored in China.
The championship will resume track activity next week in Shanghai, China, on a very different track compared to the twisty Goldenport Park. The nature of the track, also used for Formula 1, will show if the hard work carried out by Chevrolet, Lada and Honda effectively got them closer to Citroën than before.
