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Australia

Nurburgring WTCC: Lopez holds off Michelisz to seal double win

Jose Maria Lopez completed a perfect weekend at the Nurburgring Nordschleife, winning race two from pole in a depleted field following a dramatic first race which eliminated two of his main championship rivals.

José María López, Citroën World Touring Car Team, Citroën C-Elysée WTCC

José María López, Citroën World Touring Car Team, Citroën C-Elysée WTCC

FIA WTCC

José María López, Citroën World Touring Car Team, Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
José María López, Citroën World Touring Car Team, Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
Fredrik Ekblom, Polestar Cyan Racing, Volvo S60 Polestar TC1
Gabriele Tarquini, LADA Sport Rosneft, Lada Vesta
Rob Huff, Honda Racing Team JAS, Honda Civic WTCC
Mehdi Bennani, Sébastien Loeb Racing, Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
Thed Björk, Polestar Cyan Racing, Volvo S60 Polestar TC1
Hugo Valente, LADA Sport Rosneft, Lada Vesta
Sabine Schmitz, All-Inkl Motorsport, Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1

After both Citroen teammate Yvan Muller and Honda’s Tiago Monteiro were eliminated following a collision in race one, instigated by a possible tyre failure on Monteiro’s Honda, Lopez had a clear run in the second race.

He started as scheduled on pole position but was joined on the front row by Honda’s Norbert Michelisz following Muller's absence from the grid.

The Hungarian made a great start and launched his Honda up into the lead into Turn 1, but two-time champion Lopez retook the lead before the end of the Grand Prix loop and then built up a three second lead by the end of the first lap.

Michelisz was running in second just ahead of Sebastien Loeb Racing’s Tom Chilton, who was forced to fight a rear-guard action against the Honda of Rob Huff throughout the 76km race, with 2012 champion Huff unable to find a way past Chilton.

The bulk of the passes in the race were from the Polestar Cyan Racing pair of Fredrik Ekblom and Thed Bjork, who moved their way forwards after a poor start for Ekblom, and with Bjork starting from the back after the team resolved the Swede’s oil pressure problem from the first race.

Ekblom and Bjork worked their way ahead of the two Ladas of Gabriele Tarquini and Hugo Valente to finish seventh and eighth, but had no time to catch the leading Lada Vesta of Nicky Catsburg in sixth.

Sabine Schmitz was the best-placed of the Chevrolet drivers again, but this time she was outside of the points in 11th, with just two Chevrolets making the start after Tom Coronel was ruled out due to damage in the first race and had to give up his third position on the grid.

Lopez fought off a late charge from Michelisz, whose Honda closed up on the second lap to the Citroen driver who was informed to “manage his engine” by the team.

But the Argentinian still went on to take the win with a margin of just under half a second and extends his lead in the drivers’ standings to 69 points over Monteiro.

Huff is now 71 points behind in third, subject to the result of the court of appeal’s hearing into Honda’s exclusion from Hungary and Morocco.

The tyre issues which affected Race 1 didn't resurface in Race 2, but due to the loss of the three cars of Coronel, Monteiro and Muller, the race began with just 14 cars in the WTCC class.

Main race results:

PosDriverTeamCarTimeLaps
1 ArgentinaJose Maria Lopez  Citroen Total WTCC Citroen C-Elysée WTCC 26:29.665 3
2 HungaryNorbert Michelisz  Honda Racing Team JAS Honda Civic WTCC +0.435 3
3 United KingdomTom Chilton  Sebastien Loeb Racing Citroen C-Elysée WTCC +0.915 3
4 United KingdomRob Huff  Honda Racing Team JAS Honda Civic WTCC +1.908 3
5 MoroccoMehdi Bennani  Sebastien Loeb Racing Citroen C-Elysée WTCC +2.431 3
6 NetherlandsNicky Catsburg  LADA Sport Rosneft Lada Vesta WTCC +4.905 3
7 SwedenFredrik Ekblom  Polestar Cyan Racing Volvo S60 WTCC +6.072 3
8 SwedenThed Björk  Polestar Cyan Racing Volvo S60 WTCC +8.008 3
9 ItalyGabriele Tarquini  LADA Sport Rosneft Lada Vesta WTCC +8.675 3
10 FranceHugo Valente  LADA Sport Rosneft Lada Vesta WTCC +13.860 3
11 GermanySabine Schmitz  All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 +23.305 3
12 FranceJohn Filippi  Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 +28.180 3
13 HungaryFerenc Ficza  Zengo Motorsport Honda Civic WTCC +33.913 3
14 FranceGrégoire Demoustier  Sebastien Loeb Racing Citroen C-Elysée WTCC +38.285 3
  Yvan Muller  Citroen Total WTCC Citroen C-Elysée WTCC   0
  Tom Coronel  ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1   0
  Tiago Monteiro  Honda Racing Team JAS Honda Civic WTCC   0

Neil Hudson / TouringCarTimes

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