Qatar WTCC: Jose Maria Lopez dominates night practice for Citroen
Jose Maria Lopez threw down the gauntlet to his rivals by topping both World Touring Car Championship practice sessions under the lights at Losail in Qatar
Having secured his second WTCC crown at the previous round in Thailand, Citroen driver Lopez completed a clean sweep of Thursday's sessions, including the earlier testing session, with a best time of 2m01.859 in the evening's second practice half-hour.
Those hoping that his coronation may have given Lopez cause to back off were to be quickly disappointed in first practice, as he hurled his C-Elysee to a fastest time of 2m03.453s.
Lopez's nearest rival was Mehdi Bennani, the Moroccan carrying over his impressive pace from the morning's testing session to set the second best time, 0.410 seconds back from Lopez.
Sebastien Loeb completed an all-Citroen top three with a best effort of 2m03.068s, while Stefano D'Aste was an encouraging fourth in his Munnich Motorsport Chevrolet Cruze, marginally ahead of Honda's Gabriele Tarquini.
Loeb's nearest challenger for second place in the championship, Citroen team-mate Yvan Muller, managed only the ninth-fastest time.
There was no let up from Lopez in the second session as the Argentinian went more than a second faster than anyone else with his opening gambit, before becoming the first man to dip below the 2m02s barrier with a 2m01.859s on his second attempt - which would end up being the fastest lap of the session.
Campos Racing's Hugo Valente got closer than anyone else to Lopez with an effort on 2m02.084s, while Gregoire Demoustier was a surprise third in his Craft-Bamboo Chevrolet Cruze.
Loeb ended up fourth and second-best of the Citroens, with Ma Qing Hua, Bennani and Muller finishing seventh, eighth and 11th respectively.
Nasser Al-Attiyah continued to find time on his WTCC debut in the third Campos Chevrolet Cruze, finishing the second session in 17th place, 1.741s slower than Lopez.
PRACTICE ONE TIMES:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jose Maria Lopez | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 2m02.453s | - | 10 |
2 | Mehdi Bennani | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 2m02.863s | 0.410s | 12 |
3 | Sebastien Loeb | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 2m03.068s | 0.615s | 11 |
4 | Stefano D'Aste | All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport | Chevrolet | 2m03.300s | 0.847s | 12 |
5 | Gabriele Tarquini | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 2m03.353s | 0.900s | 11 |
6 | Hugo Valente | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 2m03.492s | 1.039s | 10 |
7 | Norbert Michelisz | Zengo Motorsport | Honda | 2m03.514s | 1.061s | 10 |
8 | Nicky Catsburg | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 2m03.538s | 1.085s | 12 |
9 | Yvan Muller | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 2m03.546s | 1.093s | 11 |
10 | Nicolas Lapierre | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 2m03.569s | 1.116s | 12 |
11 | Ma Qinghua | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 2m03.705s | 1.252s | 9 |
12 | Tiago Monteiro | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 2m03.719s | 1.266s | 12 |
13 | John Filippi | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 2m04.136s | 1.683s | 10 |
14 | Tom Chilton | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 2m04.315s | 1.862s | 10 |
15 | Tom Coronel | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 2m04.321s | 1.868s | 11 |
16 | Rob Huff | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 2m04.385s | 1.932s | 11 |
17 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 2m04.445s | 1.992s | 11 |
18 | Gregoire Demoustier | Craft-Bamboo Racing | Chevrolet | 2m04.739s | 2.286s | 11 |
PRACTICE TWO TIMES:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jose Maria Lopez | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 2m01.859s | - | 11 |
2 | Hugo Valente | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 2m02.084s | 0.225s | 11 |
3 | Gregoire Demoustier | Craft-Bamboo Racing | Chevrolet | 2m02.262s | 0.403s | 10 |
4 | Sebastien Loeb | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 2m02.267s | 0.408s | 11 |
5 | John Filippi | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 2m02.404s | 0.545s | 13 |
6 | Tom Chilton | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 2m02.519s | 0.660s | 10 |
7 | Ma Qinghua | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 2m02.588s | 0.729s | 11 |
8 | Mehdi Bennani | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 2m02.631s | 0.772s | 11 |
9 | Stefano D'Aste | All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport | Chevrolet | 2m02.800s | 0.941s | 8 |
10 | Nicky Catsburg | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 2m02.817s | 0.958s | 11 |
11 | Yvan Muller | Citroen Total WTCC | Citroen | 2m02.823s | 0.964s | 10 |
12 | Tom Coronel | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 2m02.869s | 1.010s | 12 |
13 | Norbert Michelisz | Zengo Motorsport | Honda | 2m03.126s | 1.267s | 11 |
14 | Gabriele Tarquini | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 2m03.410s | 1.551s | 11 |
15 | Rob Huff | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 2m03.499s | 1.640s | 12 |
16 | Tiago Monteiro | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 2m03.539s | 1.680s | 10 |
17 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 2m03.600s | 1.741s | 11 |
18 | Nicolas Lapierre | LADA Sport Rosneft | Lada | 2m03.630s | 1.771s | 12 |
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