Motegi, Race 1: López lands Motegi WTCC gold

Michelisz was forced to settle for second

By Franck Drui

13 September 2015 - 08:04
Motegi, Race 1: López lands Motegi (...)

José María López has claimed victory in a thrilling first JVC KENWOOD WTCC Race of Japan, which provided action, drama and overtaking aplenty.

Independent racer Norbert Michelisz, who started from pole in his Honda, was unable to prevent the Citroën driver from squeezing ahead on the run to the first corner and he was forced to settle for second followed closely by fellow Honda driver Gabriele Tarquini.

“I cannot believe it,” said López following his seventh victory of 2015. “I was not expecting this because the Honda makes a very good start. I was trying to do a safe start but I was confident. I have a fantastic team that pushes me to go further. The pace of the car was fantastic even with [60] kilos [of success ballast]. I should struggle more but this car seems unbeatable.”

Ma Qing Hua pulled off a sensational late-braking passing manoeuvre to snatch fourth from Citroën team-mate Yvan Muller, who took fifth ahead of Sébastien Loeb with Mehdi Bennani seventh and Rob Huff eighth following a thrilling battle with Tiago Monteiro and Hugo Valente. Nicolas Lapierre finished P11 on his WTCC debut but ROAL Motorsport twins Tom Coronel and Tom Chilton both retired, crashing out on consecutive laps at turn five.

Race two is due to get underway at 15h25 local time and there’s the possibility of a wet race with rain currently falling at Twin Ring Motegi.

Pos. Driver Team Car Time
1 Jose Maria Lopez Citroen Total WTCC Citroen 13 laps
2 Norbert Michelisz Zengo Motorsport Honda +3.081
3 Gabriele Tarquini Honda Racing Team JAS Honda +4.314
4 Ma Qing Hua Citroen Total WTCC Citroen +10.421
5 Yvan Muller Citroen Total WTCC Citroen +11.812
6 Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WTCC Citroen +12.108
7 Mehdi Bennani Sebastien Loeb Racing Citroen +14.677
8 Robert Huff LADA Sport Rosneft Lada +22.108
9 Tiago Monteiro Honda Racing Team JAS Honda +23.409
10 Hugo Valente Campos Racing Chevrolet +29.352
11 Nicolas Lapierre LADA Sport Rosneft Lada +29.952
12 Grégoire Demoustier Craft-Bamboo Racing Chevrolet +32.361
13 John Filippi Campos Racing Chevrolet +39.713
14 Stefano D’Aste Munnich Motorsport Chevrolet +40.919
15 Tom Chilton ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet DNF
16 Nicky Catsburg LADA Sport Rosneft Lada DNF
17 Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet DNF

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