Jose Maria Lopez denies Lada and Honda with last-gasp WTCC victory
Jose Maria Lopez took a thrilling World Touring Car Championship win in the second Slovakia Ring race, beating Honda's Tiago Monteiro and Lada's Nicky Catsburg to the flag
Having led the opening stages having got a better start than Catsburg and team-mate Yvan Muller, Citroen driver Lopez was forced to play second fiddle to Catsburg for much of the race after the Dutchman completed a fine switchback to take the lead.
But Lopez and Monteiro gradually reeled the Lada driver in, and Lopez made a decisive move in his C-Elysee on the exit of the final corner on the penultimate lap to regain first place - a position that he held to the flag.
Monteiro passed Catsburg at the second corner on the final tour but the delay between Lopez's pass and his put paid to his hopes of a second victory of the day. The Honda driver nevertheless capped a fine weekend with second.
Catsburg clung on for third thereafter, defending robustly from the second Honda of Norbert Michelisz - who dropped a position himself at the finish after slight contact from Polestar's Thed Bjork at the final corner handed the Swede fourth, equalling Volvo's best finish in the WTCC in any of its previous programmes.
NEWS UPDATE: Bjork excluded from Slovakia races
Michelisz limped home in fifth after picking up a puncture on the run to the line, ahead of polesitter Muller.
Muller made a tentative start from pole and found himself third after a clip from Catsburg sent him wide at Turn 1.
He forfeited another position to Monteiro, before he and Rob Huff made contact while fighting for fifth, relegating the Frenchman to eighth before his recovery.
Sebastien Loeb Racing's Mehdi Bennani and Tom Chilton finished seventh and eighth in their Citroen C-Elysees.
Huff retired from fifth with two laps remaining, ending his race in the gravel trap.
RESULTS - 12 LAPS:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jose Maria Lopez | Citroen Racing | Citroen | 25m44.212s |
2 | Tiago Monteiro | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 0.700s |
3 | Nicky Catsburg | LADA Sport | Lada | 3.260s |
4 | Norbert Michelisz | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 4.620s |
5 | Yvan Muller | Citroen Racing | Citroen | 4.737s |
6 | Mehdi Bennani | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 5.262s |
7 | Tom Chilton | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 5.950s |
8 | Fredrik Ekblom | Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo | 7.551s |
9 | Tom Coronel | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet | 18.969s |
10 | John Filippi | Campos Racing | Chevrolet | 19.345s |
11 | James Thompson | Munnich Motorsport | Chevrolet | 20.045s |
12 | Gregoire Demoustier | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen | 21.675s |
13 | Gabriele Tarquini | LADA Sport | Lada | 1m38.571s |
14 | Rob Huff | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda | 2 Laps |
- | Thed Bjork | Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo | Disqualified |
- | Hugo Valente | LADA Sport | Lada | Retirement |
- | Ferenc Ficza | Zengo Motorsport | Honda | Not started |
DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP
Pos | Driver | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Tiago Monteiro | 77 |
2 | Jose Maria Lopez | 76 |
3 | Norbert Michelisz | 52 |
4 | Rob Huff | 49 |
5 | Mehdi Bennani | 48 |
6 | Yvan Muller | 36 |
7 | Nicky Catsburg | 35 |
8 | Hugo Valente | 16 |
9 | Gabriele Tarquini | 12 |
10 | Tom Chilton | 12 |
11 | Fredrik Ekblom | 7 |
12 | Thed Bjork | 6 |
13 | Tom Coronel | 6 |
14 | John Filippi | 1 |
14 | Gregoire Demoustier | 1 |
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