No punishment given for incident which saw José María López retire in Japan

The stewards have deemed no action is necessary for the incident at the start of race one involving Zengő Motorsport’s Norbert Michelisz, Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Mehdi Bennani and Citroën’s José María López, which saw López out of the race with damage and Michelisz and Bennani fall to the back of the pack.

“I had an average start, there were a lot of cars around and I saw there was some movement in front which I tried to avoid and Mehdi (Bennani) was on the outside and we collided and then I was down to 16th or 17th I can’t remember,” said Michelisz.

The incident saw López out of the race with suspension damage, his first retirement since Moscow in 2014, and his first of the season, but with Muller also not finishing the gap in the championship remains at 74 points.

“I got hit from behind in the first corner quite badly,” said López. “My car lifted and I went straight into Séb (Loeb). I ‘m really sorry to Séb as I could have ruined his race, I’ve ruined mine, that’s why I have mixed feelings (about today). I was unlucky at the start of the race, and I was really angry after this manoeuvre I thought why someone can hit you like this, but it’s racing. That’s why I always try to do my best because you can lose points like this.”

Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Mehdi Bennani was also implicated in the manoeuvre and brought to the stewards, but upon review, the stewards investigated the collision but their decision states that they “do not believe either driver were wholly or predominantly to blame for the incident.”