Suzuka, Race 1: Victory gives López the world title

The Argentine kept his cool in this crucial race

By Franck Drui

26 October 2014 - 07:15
Suzuka, Race 1: Victory gives López (…)

It’s done! José María López secured his first WTCC title with a perfect Race 1 in Suzuka.

The Argentine kept his cool in this crucial race and left no room to calculations. Making a perfect use of his pole position, he took a good start and keep things in command until the chequered flag.

His only possible rival, Yvan Muller, escorted him during six laps before suffering a puncture that forced him to the pits. The real battle was for second, between the Chevrolet cars of Chilton and Valente, with the Frenchman passing the Brit in the early stages and bound to keep the position before being passed by Chilton, Sébastien Loeb, Norbert Michelisz in the penultimate lap. Gabriele Tarquini took sixth and Franz Engstler won again in TC2T.

The brand new Champion was welcomed in victory lane by Argentine music and flags while his mechanics were wearing the Argentine national football team’s shirts.

Key moments

 Start – Good start of López ahead of Muller, Chilton, Valente and Loeb
 Lap 1 – Valente passes Chilton in T15 for third
 Lap 2 – The two Citroën cars of López and Muller lead already by 2.5 seconds from the Chevrolet cars of Valente and Chilton
 Lap 3 – Chilton attacks Valente and both are under threat by Loeb
 Lap 4 – Fastest lap for López, who has now 1.3 seconds over Muller
 Lap 5 – Again fastest lap for López, who takes 0.9 on Muller in this lap
 Lap 6 – Tarquini goes a little bit wide at turn 9, while Loeb tries again to pass Chilton
 Lap 7 – Muller slows down with a rear tyre puncture and retires, which makes López the virtual champion
 Lap 10 – In turn 14, Chilton passes Valente for second; the latter seems in troubles and cannot avoid Loeb and Michelisz passing him, while he manages narrowly to keep Tarquini behind
 Lap 11 – López wins race and title, while in TC2T, Engstler beats Filippi and Kwong.

Pos. Driver Car Time
1 José Maria LOPEZ Citroen C-Elysee WTCC 11 laps - 23m54.353
2 Tom CHILTON Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 +8.473
3 Sébastien LOEB Citroen C-Elysee WTCC +9.693
4 Norbert MICHELISZ Honda Civic WTCC +10.414
5 Hugo VALENTE Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 +12.153
6 Gabriele TARQUINI Honda Civic WTCC +12.707
7 Tom CORONEL Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 +13.514
8 Dusan BORKOVIC Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 +14.340
9 Tiago MONTEIRO Honda Civic WTCC +16.507
10 Gianni MORBIDELLI Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 +17.846
11 Mehdi BENNANI Honda Civic WTCC +20.907
12 Rob HUFF LADA Granta 1.6T +21.696
13 James THOMPSON LADA Granta 1.6T +22.802
14 Mikhail KOZLOVSKIY LADA Granta 1.6T +32.602
15 Franz ENGSTLER BMW E90 320 TC +76.593
16 John FILIPPI Seat Leon WTCC +79.083
17 Henry KWONG Seat Leon WTCC +135.944
18 Yvan MULLER Citroen C-Elysee WTCC DNF
19 René MUNNICH Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 DNF
20 Filipe DE SOUZA BMW E90 320 TC DNF

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