Just as he did in 2014 and 2015, José María López secured pole position in his home FIA WTCC meeting. Yvan Muller also performed impressively at the Termas de Río Hondo circuit, qualifying the second Citroën C-Elysée WTCC in fourth position.
Unlike in the previous rounds, the FIA WTCC drivers had to wait until Saturday morning to take part in their first session of free practice. In cool, overcast conditions, the Argentine driver was in quick form from the start.
Yvan Muller shone in the first session, clocking the second-fastest time, while José María López was fifth. In late morning, the two Citroën Total drivers confirmed their potential with the second and third best times in the second practice session. This time, the Argentine outdid the Frenchman, albeit by less than 0.2s.
The time then came for the competitors to show what they could do in qualifying, with the weather just as gloomy as earlier in the day. The Citroën C-Elysée WTCC drivers had no trouble finishing in the top 12 in Q1 and thus made it through to Q2, where José María López clocked the best time ahead of his fellow countryman Esteban Guerrieri. Four-time World Champion Yvan Muller also secured his spot in Q3 with third place, ahead of Tom Coronel and Norbert Michelisz. Representing SLR, Mehdi Bennani (7th) and Tom Chilton (9th) earned themselves good positions on the reverse starting grid for the opening race.
In his Q3 lap, Yvan Muller was the fastest man over the first sector, and looked well set to clock the quickest time, but ultimately ended up behind Michelisz and Coronel after making a slight error on the last corner.
Guerrieri produced an excellent time, but was placed under investigation for not respecting the pit signals on his way on to the track. Without pushing his talent to its limits, José María López produced a good lap, which became pole position when his rival’s time was disallowed.
A few minutes later, José María López, Yvan Muller and Tom Chilton flew the flag for Citroën in MAC3. Despite clocking the best splits throughout most of the exercise, the trio eventually finished second.
Today’s two races at Termas de Río Hondo will take place at 2.10 and 3.20 p.m. (GMT+3).
WHAT THEY HAD TO SAYYves Matton, Team Principal, Citroën Racing: “We can be satisfied with our qualifying result. We knew it would be tough to beat Esteban Guerrieri, who is a very good driver and had a car 80 kg lighter than ours, plus extra fresh tyres compared to regular championship competitors. In the end, we won pole position thanks to José María López and it’s a great joy for the team and for Citroën Argentina, who have as always given us the warmest of welcomes. I’m disappointed for Yvan Muller, who had the potential to do better than fourth. But the gaps between the drivers are so small that his small error proved very costly. Since Citroën Racing joined WTCC, we have won all four races here. It will be difficult for us to maintain that unbeaten streak tomorrow, but we have some good starting positions, including in the opening race with Tom Chilton.”
José María López: “I am very happy to be back in pole position after making some mistakes in qualifying at the last two meetings. We knew that we would be at ease on this circuit, but it’s never easy to strike the right balance on a track that changes considerably from one run to the next. I wanted to fight for pole position, but I also had one eye on the World Championship standings. When the team told me over the radio that Esteban Guerrieri was being investigated, I approached my Q3 lap in a slightly more relaxed frame of mind. The five points for pole position are important. They extend my lead, as Tiago Monteiro didn’t make it through to the final phase.”
Yvan Muller: “I think I had the car to win pole position. There wouldn’t have been much in it, but it was possible. I was the fastest over the first sector, then clocked a decent time in the second, before messing up at the last corner. To be in with a chance of pole, you need to produce a perfect lap. It’s a disappointment, but I’m going to battle hard in the races. It is possible to overtake here, as long as the aerodynamic turbulence doesn’t cause you problems.”
RESULTS AND STANDINGSQUALIFYING
José María López (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)Norbert Michelisz (Honda Civic WTCC)Tom Coronel (Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1)Yvan Muller (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)Esteban Guerrieri (Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1)Rob Huff (Honda Civic WTCC)Mehdi Bennani (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)Tiago Monteiro (Honda Civic WTCC)Tom Chilton (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)John Filippi (Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1)James Thompson (Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1)Grégoire Demoustier (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)
