Citroën now assured of winning the 2015 drivers’ title
Although the French manufacturer had just one driver on the podium in one of Sunday’s races at Motegi, the results for Citroën mean that one of their top three drivers José María López, Yvan Muller or Sébastien Loeb are now mathematically the only drivers who can now win this year’s WTCC drivers’ title.
José María López converted second on the grid to his seventh win of the season, with Ma Qing Hua, Yvan Muller and Sébastien Loeb just missing the podium in race one, while López and Muller both failed to the finish the second race, with Loeb finishing fourth and Ma fifth.
“Japan has been pretty good to me,” said López. “I got off to a great start in Race 1 and managed to overtake Michelisz before the first bend. I thought it would be harder to keep him at bay, as our 60 kg of ballast was a real handicap on this circuit. But as it turned out, I was able to pull away and get the win.”
López was eliminated from race two following an incident involving Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Mehdi Bennani and Zengő Motorsport’s Norbert Michelisz, but all were absolved of blame.
Yvan Muller however had a weekend to forget, qualifying in seventh and finishing fifth in race two, while running as the top Citroën in race two in third, his bonnet came loose and he was given a mechanical black flag and chose to retire.
“At the start Hugo (Valente) braked too early and (Gabriele) Tarquini behind me braked too late and he pushed me into Valente, he squeezed my exhaust at the back and when he pushed me into Valente the bonnet was probably damaged at this point.” Muller said to TouringCarTimes. “I was struggling a bit as my exhaust was almost closed, but I was still fighting for him but unfortunately the bonnet came up.”
Although mathematically in contention 74 points behind, with Sébastien Loeb 98 points behind López in the drivers’ standings, having written off his chances early in the season but then having bounced back during the middle of the European season, the four-time champion now concedes the drivers’ title battle is over.
“He’s 74 points ahead, it’s impossible,” he admitted. “With three meetings left there’s only 165 points in total if you scored everything.”
Citroën are set to officially wrap up the manufacturers’ title in two weeks’ time in Shanghai, while if López has an above average weekend and pulls out a further 36 points over Muller in China, the 2014 champion can also secure the drivers’ title next time out as well, although it is more likely to be confirmed in Buriram, Thailand when the WTCC visits there for the first time next month.
