SĂ©bastien Loeb and JosĂ© MarĂa LopĂ©z claimed a victory apiece as the 2015 FIA World Touring Car Championship got off to a spectacular start with two action-packed races in Argentina today.
LopĂ©z, the national hero and reigning WTCC champion, triumphed in race one to the delight of the 40,000-strong crowd at a sun-drenched AutĂłdromo Termas de RĂo Hondo. However, the 31-year-old was unable to prevent his CitroĂ«n team-mate Loeb from claiming top spot in the second event, which was punctuated by a safety car period to allow trackside marshals to clear debris from the track following a handful of early clashes.
Yvan Muller finished second in race one following a first-corner bump with LopĂ©z as Loeb made it a CitroĂ«n podium lockout. Honda driver Tiago Monteiro completed the podium in race two with second place for LopĂ©z â plus the five points he scored for claiming pole position for race one â helping the Argentine to a five-point championship lead over Loeb.
Norbert Michelisz charged through from the back of the grid to win the Yokohama Driversâ Trophy in race one with Mehdi Bennani taking the class laurels in the second counter, despite contact with Muller sending him into a spin. It was an incident-filled start to 2015 for LADA drivers Rob Huff and James Thompson who both showed promise but were ultimately out of luck in the searing heat.
RACE ONE ROUND-UP: HOME JOY FOR CHAMPION LĂPEZ
JosĂ© MarĂa LĂłpez landed his fourth WTCC win on home soil with victory in race one after the home hero overcame an early challenge from CitroĂ«n team-mate Yvan Muller to claim a standout victory in ambient temperatures of 34 degrees centigrade. LĂłpez beat Muller and fellow CitroĂ«n driver SĂ©bastien Loeb with Tiago Monteiro and Gabriele Tarquini fourth and fifth respectively for Honda.
Norbert Michelisz charged through from the back of the grid to top the Yokohama Driversâ Trophy category with Ma Qing Hua next up after the Chinese driverâs CitroĂ«n stalled at the start. Tom Chilton, Stefano DâAste and Rickard Rydell completed the top 10 with DuĆĄan Borkovic 11th, GrĂ©goire Demoustier 12th and Mehdi Bennani 13th after the Moroccan was handed a drive-through penalty following a clash with Rob Huff. Tom Coronel completed the finishers after pitting with a mechanical glitch. James Thompson retired with a damaged right-rear wheel at the end of opening lap.
John Filippi was also out after the first tour with damage to his front-left wheel, while team-mate Hugo Valente crashed out of 14th on lap five and inflicted substantial damage to the front of his Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 for the second day in a row having crashed in free practice. Valente, who was nursing a sore thumb afterwards, again blamed the incident on a brake issue.
RACE TWO ROUND-UP: LOEB SCORES WTCC HAT-TRICK
SĂ©bastien Loeb made it two winners from two WTCC counters by outgunning local ace JosĂ© MarĂa LĂłpez in the second race in Argentina. Loeb, who started eighth on the grid, hit the front when CitroĂ«n team-mate Ma Qing Hua ran wide on lap two. Despite his limited circuit racing experience, the nine-time world rally champion held off LĂłpez thereafter and had built his winning margin to almost five seconds following an incident-packed race.
Tiago Monteiro overtook fellow Honda driver Gabriele Tarquini for third with Mehdi Bennani fighting back from a clash with Yvan Muller to beat Norbert Michelisz to the Yokohama Driversâ Trophy. Ma Qing Hua finished seventh after stopping to clear debris from his carâs radiator but was promoted to sixth after Michelisz was penalised following a clash between the pair.
Tom Chilton finished eighth with Rickard Rydell ninth and Grégoire Demoustier 10th on his WTCC debut. John Filippi crossed the line in 11th one place ahead of Muller, whose collision with Bennani earned him a five-place grid penalty for the next round in Morocco. Duƥan Borkovic retired with damage to his Honda following a high-speed off-track moment. Coronel led for part of the opening lap until he outbraked himself heading into turn five.
He retired with a mechanical failure on lap five. Rob Huff, pole-sitter James Thompson and Stefano DâAste all stopped in the opening laps, while Hugo Valente was a non-starter.
YOKOHAMA DRIVERSâ TROPHY: WIN APIECE FOR MICHELISZ AND BENNANI
Norbert Michelisz hit back from a disastrous qualifying session in style to take the opening-round Yokohama Driversâ Trophy victory. The Hungarian lost a wheel from his Honda Civic on his first flying lap in qualifying and was unable to set a competitive time as a result.
Nevertheless he hit back by beating Tom Chilton and Stefano DâAste. Mehdi Bennani recovered from a clash with Yvan Muller to overtake Michelisz for the race two victory with Chilton third. However, itâs Michelisz who leads the standings heading to Morocco next month.
RACE RESULTS
Go to Fiawtcc.com for the provisional race classifications.
RACE FACTS
Race one pole position (presented by DHL): JosĂ© MarĂa LĂłpez (CitroĂ«n C-ElysĂ©e WTCC)
Race one Yokohama Performer: JosĂ© MarĂa LĂłpez (CitroĂ«n C-ElysĂ©e WTCC)
Race two pole position (presented by DHL):Â James Thompson (LADA Vesta)
Race two Yokohama Performer: Sébastien Loeb (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)
CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS
Go to Fiawtcc.com for the provisional championship standings after WTCC Race of Argentina.
NEXT RACE
WTCC Race of Morocco, Marrakech, 17-19 April. More information: Marrakechgrandprix.com
