matespace
22-06-2015, 05:52 PM
Yvan Muller has narrowed José María López’s advantage at the top of the FIA World Touring Car Championship to 30 points with his fourth win of the campaign in the first WTCC Race of Slovakia.
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up%20-%201.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
However, both WTCC champions had had no answer to Citroën team-mate Sébastien Loeb, who bagged his first win since March with a fine drive in the second race at the sun-baked Slovakia Ring where 40,000 fans watched the bumper-to-bumper action over the course of the weekend.
Starting from pole, Muller produced a faultless display in his C-Elysée WTCC to win the opening 11-lap contest from López with Loeb third after the latter pair had initially battled for position. Rob Huff finished fourth for LADA with Hugo Valente topping the Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy in his Campos Racing Chevrolet Cruze, one place ahead of Honda driver Gabriele Tarquini.
Jaap van Lagen started the reverse grid second race in first place but was unable to keep the chasing pack at bay, first dropping behind Tarquini before losing out to the flying Citroën trio. He finished sixth with Tarquini slipping to fourth and Valente again the top independent racer in fifth.
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up%20-%202.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
RACE ONE ROUND-UP: MULLER OFF TO A FLYER IN SLOVAKIA
Muller’s victory owed plenty to his rapid getaway and early charge. Blasting away from pole position the Frenchman pushed hard through the opening turns to open up an early advantage. While López and Loeb squabbled over second, Muller was able to pull clear to win by 1.7s to head a Citroën podium monopoly. Rob Huff was fourth for LADA with Hugo Valente bagging Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy honours in fifth. Gabriele Tarquini was the leading Honda finisher in sixth with Tom Chilton seventh and Tiago Monteiro eighth after charging through from P17 on the grid. Tom Coronel took ninth with Néstor Girolami in P10 on his WTCC debut having started in P18 for Honda Racing team Sweden. Local hero Mato Homola finished in P13 behind Stefano D’Aste and John Filippi after pitting to enable his Campos team to rectify a problem with his car’s front splitter. There were a number of notable retirements including Norbert Michelisz, who slid into a gravel trap with a puncture, Jaap van Lagen, who stopped with suspension damage, and Ma Qing Hua, whose hopes of a strong result were dashed by a clutch issue. Nicky Catsburg retired his LADA with a powersteering fault.
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up%20-%203.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
RACE TWO ROUND-UP: LOEB RETURNS TO WINNING WAYS
Sébastien Loeb scored win number two of 2015 by hunting down and passing Gabriele Tarquini for victory in the second race. Loeb, who hasn’t won in the WTCC since the opening weekend of the season in Argentina, was eighth on the grid in his factory Citroën but a strong start meant he was challenging Honda driver Tarquini before the end of the opening lap. Tarquini held on for the next tour but was unable to prevent Loeb from passing at the second turn on lap three to claim his second win in Slovakia in as many seasons. And it would get worse for Tarquini when championship leader José María López and race one winner Yvan Muller also moved ahead, demoting the former champion to fourth. While Loeb was able to move clear out front, López and Muller battled for second with López taking the runner-up spot. Hugo Valente made it back-to-back Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy wins in fifth behind Tarquini with Jaap van Lagen, who started the reverse grid race from pole, in sixth for LADA. Mehdi Bennani was seventh, Norbert Michelisz overcame a collision with Tiago Monteiro for eighth with Tom Coronel in P10 behind the Portuguese Honda driver. Stefano D’Aste took P12 behind Néstor Girolami with Grégoire Demoustier battling back from his race one retirement to follow the Italian home. John Fillippi and Mato Homola completed the top 15. Nicky Catsburg pitted with a faulty warning light, Rob Huff stopped when a rock holed his LADA’s radiator, while clutch woes again plagued Ma Qing Hua.
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up%20-%204.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
YOKOHAMA DRIVERS’ TROPHY: CONSISTENT VALENTE VICTORIOUS
Hugo Valente produced his most consistent performance of the season for a Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy double, finishing fifth overall on both occasions to boot. The Campos Racing Chevrolet driver’s success was the perfect response to a troubled run of late and the perfect confidence boost ahead of his home round of the WTCC in France next weekend. Tom Chilton maintained his title bid with second in race one with ROAL team-mate Tom Coronel third. Mehdi Bennani finished second in race two having retired from the opening counter. Norbert Michelisz also failed to go the distance in race one but his third place in race two means his title advantage over Chilton stands at nine points.
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up%20-%205.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
Yvan Muller (race one winner): “The start was very important because if you miss your start at this track you give the chance for the others to pass. I pushed hard to make a gap because between Turn 2 and 3 there was a lot of headwind and I was worried about the slipstream of them behind me. That’s why I wanted to make the gap immediately. Then I was driving to save the tyre and reach the end with the advantage I had. It was not so difficult to be concentrated because Pechito [López] and Seb Loeb were pushing in the back so I had no choice but to stay focused. I never thought I would be on the podium again in race two but I got a good start, Seb did a good job to overtake [Gabriele] Tarquini and we could also pass him.”
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up%20-%206.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
Sébastien Loeb (race two winner): “To win again is really, really nice. I always struggle a bit in the qualifying and when I started third for sure it’s difficult to overtake. We had a little battle with Pechito at the first and second corner but it’s difficult to overtake between us because we have the same car and with the slipstream it’s difficult to close the gap because you have the understeer when you are really close. But it was a good battle. The key in race two was the start. I ended up second in the first corner already fighting with Gabriele. I had two or three laps to try to find an opportunity to pass him. I wanted to pass early because I knew Yvan and Pechito would stay behind and then there would be more and more pressure. When I pass him I tried to really drive like in qualifying, flat out all the time. I could push hard to the end. It was the perfect race for me.”
RACE FACTS
Race one pole position: Yvan Muller (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)
Race one Yokohama Performer: Yvan Muller (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)
Race two pole position: Jaap van La0gen (LADA Vesta)
Race two Yokohama Performer: Sébastien Loeb (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up%20-%207.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
NEXT RACE
WTCC Race of France, Paul Ricard, 26-28 June, 2015
LINKS:
www.yokohama.com.au (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
www.facebook.com/YokohamaAdvanAU (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?65218)
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up%20-%201.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
However, both WTCC champions had had no answer to Citroën team-mate Sébastien Loeb, who bagged his first win since March with a fine drive in the second race at the sun-baked Slovakia Ring where 40,000 fans watched the bumper-to-bumper action over the course of the weekend.
Starting from pole, Muller produced a faultless display in his C-Elysée WTCC to win the opening 11-lap contest from López with Loeb third after the latter pair had initially battled for position. Rob Huff finished fourth for LADA with Hugo Valente topping the Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy in his Campos Racing Chevrolet Cruze, one place ahead of Honda driver Gabriele Tarquini.
Jaap van Lagen started the reverse grid second race in first place but was unable to keep the chasing pack at bay, first dropping behind Tarquini before losing out to the flying Citroën trio. He finished sixth with Tarquini slipping to fourth and Valente again the top independent racer in fifth.
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up%20-%202.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
RACE ONE ROUND-UP: MULLER OFF TO A FLYER IN SLOVAKIA
Muller’s victory owed plenty to his rapid getaway and early charge. Blasting away from pole position the Frenchman pushed hard through the opening turns to open up an early advantage. While López and Loeb squabbled over second, Muller was able to pull clear to win by 1.7s to head a Citroën podium monopoly. Rob Huff was fourth for LADA with Hugo Valente bagging Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy honours in fifth. Gabriele Tarquini was the leading Honda finisher in sixth with Tom Chilton seventh and Tiago Monteiro eighth after charging through from P17 on the grid. Tom Coronel took ninth with Néstor Girolami in P10 on his WTCC debut having started in P18 for Honda Racing team Sweden. Local hero Mato Homola finished in P13 behind Stefano D’Aste and John Filippi after pitting to enable his Campos team to rectify a problem with his car’s front splitter. There were a number of notable retirements including Norbert Michelisz, who slid into a gravel trap with a puncture, Jaap van Lagen, who stopped with suspension damage, and Ma Qing Hua, whose hopes of a strong result were dashed by a clutch issue. Nicky Catsburg retired his LADA with a powersteering fault.
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up%20-%203.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
RACE TWO ROUND-UP: LOEB RETURNS TO WINNING WAYS
Sébastien Loeb scored win number two of 2015 by hunting down and passing Gabriele Tarquini for victory in the second race. Loeb, who hasn’t won in the WTCC since the opening weekend of the season in Argentina, was eighth on the grid in his factory Citroën but a strong start meant he was challenging Honda driver Tarquini before the end of the opening lap. Tarquini held on for the next tour but was unable to prevent Loeb from passing at the second turn on lap three to claim his second win in Slovakia in as many seasons. And it would get worse for Tarquini when championship leader José María López and race one winner Yvan Muller also moved ahead, demoting the former champion to fourth. While Loeb was able to move clear out front, López and Muller battled for second with López taking the runner-up spot. Hugo Valente made it back-to-back Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy wins in fifth behind Tarquini with Jaap van Lagen, who started the reverse grid race from pole, in sixth for LADA. Mehdi Bennani was seventh, Norbert Michelisz overcame a collision with Tiago Monteiro for eighth with Tom Coronel in P10 behind the Portuguese Honda driver. Stefano D’Aste took P12 behind Néstor Girolami with Grégoire Demoustier battling back from his race one retirement to follow the Italian home. John Fillippi and Mato Homola completed the top 15. Nicky Catsburg pitted with a faulty warning light, Rob Huff stopped when a rock holed his LADA’s radiator, while clutch woes again plagued Ma Qing Hua.
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up%20-%204.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
YOKOHAMA DRIVERS’ TROPHY: CONSISTENT VALENTE VICTORIOUS
Hugo Valente produced his most consistent performance of the season for a Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy double, finishing fifth overall on both occasions to boot. The Campos Racing Chevrolet driver’s success was the perfect response to a troubled run of late and the perfect confidence boost ahead of his home round of the WTCC in France next weekend. Tom Chilton maintained his title bid with second in race one with ROAL team-mate Tom Coronel third. Mehdi Bennani finished second in race two having retired from the opening counter. Norbert Michelisz also failed to go the distance in race one but his third place in race two means his title advantage over Chilton stands at nine points.
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up%20-%205.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
Yvan Muller (race one winner): “The start was very important because if you miss your start at this track you give the chance for the others to pass. I pushed hard to make a gap because between Turn 2 and 3 there was a lot of headwind and I was worried about the slipstream of them behind me. That’s why I wanted to make the gap immediately. Then I was driving to save the tyre and reach the end with the advantage I had. It was not so difficult to be concentrated because Pechito [López] and Seb Loeb were pushing in the back so I had no choice but to stay focused. I never thought I would be on the podium again in race two but I got a good start, Seb did a good job to overtake [Gabriele] Tarquini and we could also pass him.”
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up%20-%206.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
Sébastien Loeb (race two winner): “To win again is really, really nice. I always struggle a bit in the qualifying and when I started third for sure it’s difficult to overtake. We had a little battle with Pechito at the first and second corner but it’s difficult to overtake between us because we have the same car and with the slipstream it’s difficult to close the gap because you have the understeer when you are really close. But it was a good battle. The key in race two was the start. I ended up second in the first corner already fighting with Gabriele. I had two or three laps to try to find an opportunity to pass him. I wanted to pass early because I knew Yvan and Pechito would stay behind and then there would be more and more pressure. When I pass him I tried to really drive like in qualifying, flat out all the time. I could push hard to the end. It was the perfect race for me.”
RACE FACTS
Race one pole position: Yvan Muller (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)
Race one Yokohama Performer: Yvan Muller (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)
Race two pole position: Jaap van La0gen (LADA Vesta)
Race two Yokohama Performer: Sébastien Loeb (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Slovakia%20Wrap%20Up%20-%207.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
NEXT RACE
WTCC Race of France, Paul Ricard, 26-28 June, 2015
LINKS:
www.yokohama.com.au (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
www.facebook.com/YokohamaAdvanAU (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?65218)