matespace
23-07-2015, 11:41 AM
José María López untouchable in championship fight and Qing Hua Ma puts China on top in Race 2
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Portugal%20Wrap%20Up%20-%201.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
Lopez grip tightens on the championship title following his performance at WTCC Race of Portugal, extending his lead to 55 points over Citroen teammate Yvan Muller. Not to be overshadowed by the Second win in FIA history by a Chinese driver in the Citroen car 33 piloted by Qing Hua Ma. The weekend was not without drama as a number of cars found the limits of the tight 4.7km Vila Real circuit. Team Lada will now have their work cut out for them leading in to Japan after car 10 driven by Nicky Catsburg’s heavy impact with the barrier during race 2.
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Portugal%20Wrap%20Up%20-%202.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
Lopez blasted off the line in Race 1 to a comfortable lead, untouchable throughout the 13 lap contest, beating team mate Sebastien Loeb to earn Citroen its 30th WTCC victrory and 6th of the season. Loeb had Lopez in sight throughout the race though admitted circulating in close proximity to Lopez caused his car to understeer and ultimately settled for second place.
Norbert Michelisz made the most of Hugo Valente’s sluggish start from third on the grid, caused by clutch issues, to take third place with Honda teammates Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Montiero fourth and fifth respectively.
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Portugal%20Wrap%20Up%20-%203.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
Sundays Race was led by Qing Hua Ma in pole position, which he held onto to take his second WTCC win and move to 4th overall in the championship standings. Citroen Team mate Yvan Muller took a comfortable second behind Ma while Catsburg went into defense mode hoping to take his first podium finish. Though a wide exit from Catsburg out of a right-hander on lap 10 left the inside open for Tarquini to snatch third in his Honda.
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Portugal%20Wrap%20Up%20-%204.jpg (hhttp://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
From beginning to end there was no shortage of contact throughout Sundays race, an early attempt from the local Tiago Monteiro to squeeze between Lada teammates Catsburg and Jaap Van Lagen into third place caused the Honda of Montiero to collide with a retaining wall resulting in a four lap appearance from the safety car. Contact between Catsburg, Michelisz and Loeb left Loeb skating into a tyre barrier and an early retirement. Shortly followed by Catsburg’s race ending impact with the wall.
In the Yokohama (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591) Drivers Trophy, Norbert Michelisz had an outstanding weekend taking top spot in race one and two extending his championship lead to a comfortable 25 points over Tom Chilton.
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Portugal%20Wrap%20Up%20-%205.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
José María López (race one winner): “It was very demanding. Maybe from the outside it looked easy but there was a lot of things to do, especially the start. We didn’t know how the car was going to react in a different part of the track and I had a bit of doubt about that. But it went in my favour and actually the place where I started from was very good, probably better than the outside. Then I pull away but it’s very quick and the heat was there. You can hear and feel the car was suffering on the track because of the bumps and kerbs and everything and sometimes if you relax a bit you can have a mistake and it happened to me a few times.”
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Portugal%20Wrap%20Up%20-%206.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
Ma Qing Hua (race two winner): “We were playing for the reverse grid yesterday and today the target was to be in front in race two. I did everything quite good and the team too to make everything happen. I did a good start and I’m really happy. I really like this feeling to be back on the podium again. I was really focused on Yvan at the restart because he’s very fast. I tried to make a gap, keep a clear mind and keep a good pace to the end. I did nothing crazy and just focused on the track. It’s more good news for Chinese motorsport.”
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Portugal%20Wrap%20Up%20-%207.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
Next Race:
WTCC Race of Japan, Motegi, 11-13 September, 2015
Links:
www.yokohama.com.au (http://www.yokohama.com.au/)
www.facebook.com/YokohamaAdvanAU (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?65218)
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Portugal%20Wrap%20Up%20-%201.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
Lopez grip tightens on the championship title following his performance at WTCC Race of Portugal, extending his lead to 55 points over Citroen teammate Yvan Muller. Not to be overshadowed by the Second win in FIA history by a Chinese driver in the Citroen car 33 piloted by Qing Hua Ma. The weekend was not without drama as a number of cars found the limits of the tight 4.7km Vila Real circuit. Team Lada will now have their work cut out for them leading in to Japan after car 10 driven by Nicky Catsburg’s heavy impact with the barrier during race 2.
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Portugal%20Wrap%20Up%20-%202.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
Lopez blasted off the line in Race 1 to a comfortable lead, untouchable throughout the 13 lap contest, beating team mate Sebastien Loeb to earn Citroen its 30th WTCC victrory and 6th of the season. Loeb had Lopez in sight throughout the race though admitted circulating in close proximity to Lopez caused his car to understeer and ultimately settled for second place.
Norbert Michelisz made the most of Hugo Valente’s sluggish start from third on the grid, caused by clutch issues, to take third place with Honda teammates Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Montiero fourth and fifth respectively.
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Portugal%20Wrap%20Up%20-%203.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
Sundays Race was led by Qing Hua Ma in pole position, which he held onto to take his second WTCC win and move to 4th overall in the championship standings. Citroen Team mate Yvan Muller took a comfortable second behind Ma while Catsburg went into defense mode hoping to take his first podium finish. Though a wide exit from Catsburg out of a right-hander on lap 10 left the inside open for Tarquini to snatch third in his Honda.
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Portugal%20Wrap%20Up%20-%204.jpg (hhttp://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
From beginning to end there was no shortage of contact throughout Sundays race, an early attempt from the local Tiago Monteiro to squeeze between Lada teammates Catsburg and Jaap Van Lagen into third place caused the Honda of Montiero to collide with a retaining wall resulting in a four lap appearance from the safety car. Contact between Catsburg, Michelisz and Loeb left Loeb skating into a tyre barrier and an early retirement. Shortly followed by Catsburg’s race ending impact with the wall.
In the Yokohama (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591) Drivers Trophy, Norbert Michelisz had an outstanding weekend taking top spot in race one and two extending his championship lead to a comfortable 25 points over Tom Chilton.
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Portugal%20Wrap%20Up%20-%205.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
José María López (race one winner): “It was very demanding. Maybe from the outside it looked easy but there was a lot of things to do, especially the start. We didn’t know how the car was going to react in a different part of the track and I had a bit of doubt about that. But it went in my favour and actually the place where I started from was very good, probably better than the outside. Then I pull away but it’s very quick and the heat was there. You can hear and feel the car was suffering on the track because of the bumps and kerbs and everything and sometimes if you relax a bit you can have a mistake and it happened to me a few times.”
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Portugal%20Wrap%20Up%20-%206.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
Ma Qing Hua (race two winner): “We were playing for the reverse grid yesterday and today the target was to be in front in race two. I did everything quite good and the team too to make everything happen. I did a good start and I’m really happy. I really like this feeling to be back on the podium again. I was really focused on Yvan at the restart because he’s very fast. I tried to make a gap, keep a clear mind and keep a good pace to the end. I did nothing crazy and just focused on the track. It’s more good news for Chinese motorsport.”
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/WTCC%20Race%20of%20Portugal%20Wrap%20Up%20-%207.jpg (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?96591)
Next Race:
WTCC Race of Japan, Motegi, 11-13 September, 2015
Links:
www.yokohama.com.au (http://www.yokohama.com.au/)
www.facebook.com/YokohamaAdvanAU (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?65218)