Catsburg hits out at Lopez for Motegi driving standards
Lada WTCC driver Nicky Catsburg has hit out at the driving standards of some of his rivals after the WTCC round in Motegi, in particular provisional champion Jose Maria Lopez.
Photo by: FIA WTCC
The Dutchman was caught up in an incident with Lopez in the first race as the Argentinian charged forward from 10th on the grid.
Catsburg was forced out wide at the hairpin in the incident by the Citroen driver, slicing his Vesta back onto the circuit and hitting the rear of Lopez, which earned him a bad sportsmanship flag.
“I was having a nice fight with Pechito [Lopez], but then he hit me hard in Turn 1 and could have broken my suspension,” said Catsburg.
“He kept trying to pass me there, but everywhere else he seemed to be struggling, so I thought OK, I might be able to keep the position, but then [on lap nine] he forced himself up the inside and runs me wide off onto the grass.
"I was very aggressive coming back on the track, but he pushed me out and left me no room, and I wanted just wanted to get back on the track as that’s where we belong, no?”
The Dutch driver went on to finish seventh in Race 1 and later vented his frustration on Twitter.
"They just push you out"
In the main race, Catsburg dropped down the order after a troubled start and was then involved in a race-long battle with the Munnich Chevrolet of James Thompson.
“What disappoints me in this championship is that you almost get an invitation to smash people off, because [the stewards] do nothing about it,” he vented.
“At the start, I was on the outside with Rob [Huff], he runs me wide. At Turn 3, I was on the outside of one of the Volvos, and they run me wide.
“[After] Rob pushed me out, in the next corner, I pushed him back, and I should be penalised as well, but they do nothing.
"After the race, [series promoter] Francois Ribeiro comes and says “great television”, but for me, I don’t agree with that.
“Maybe I’m too naive in thinking I can go around the outside, but with James, I’ve had two races now, here and Argentina, where we’ve had fantastic fights.
"He doesn’t push me out, he gives me the room, I don’t push him out, and we have a nice fight, but some of the others guys, including Lopez, they just push you out.”
Over the whole weekend, Catsburg's warning for the clash with Lopez in the opening race was the only reprimand received by anyone in the field.
Neil Hudson / TouringCarTimes
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Lopez didn't look for another Hypercar drive after losing Toyota WEC seat
De Vries replaces Lopez in Toyota's WEC 2024 line-up
Why Jose Maria Lopez isn’t motivated by emulating Fangio
Lada could return to WTCC grid in 2017
Valente hits out at Lada: "I'm not happy about their approach"
Tarquini reveals he had re-signed with Lada for 2017
How a Shanghai to Sheffield journey paved the way for China’s F1 hero
Hamilton expects to lose positions if F1 China sprint is dry
Verstappen 'deserves' fourth in China F1 sprint qualifying with wet struggles
Why Norris's China F1 sprint pole lap was deleted and reinstated
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments