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june 27, 2016 - Citroen

FIA WTCC – Vila Real (June 24-26) – Races

CITROËN WIDENS THE GAP

The Citroën C-Elysée WTCCs rounded off the European portion of the FIA #wtcc season with a handy collection of points finishes in the streets of Vila Real. Runner-up spots for #yvanmuller and #tomchilton mean Citroën has further extended its lead at the top of the Manufacturers' World Championship. After two fifth-place finishes, José María López remains 101 points ahead of the rest in the Drivers' standings.

Under a blazing sun, the FIA competitors lined up on the starting grid for the opening race in mid-afternoon. The first few hundred metres were decisive.

Tom Chilton got away well from the second row, snatching second place in his SLR team Citroën #celyseewtcc. José María López also climbed a place to fifth, just behind Mehdi Bennani. #yvanmuller remained ninth.

Throughout the thirteen laps, the number of overtaking manoeuvres could be counted on the fingers of one hand, and the Citroëns crossed the finish line in exactly the same positions. Thanks to Chilton and Bennani, Citroën scored forty points out of a possible forty-three to add to its Manufacturers' World Championship tally.

After a short break, the main race got under way. #yvanmuller got a good start from the front row, but not good enough to sneak past Tiago Monteiro on the first bend. José María López remained fifth, behind Michelisz and Huff.

Tightly bunched together, the front five pulled away from the rest of the field, without being in a position to overtake one another. Yvan kept his eyes open for the slightest error from the leader, but there was to be no change to the race order and Citroën #celyseewtcc n°68 finished second, less than a second behind the winner. After losing ground on the men ahead of him in mid-race, Pechito López once again took the points for fifth place.

After this seventh weekend of the season, then, Citroën has extended its advantage in the Manufacturers' World Championship by ten points. In the Driver's standings, José María López continues to enjoy a healthy lead. His nearest rival is now Tiago Monteiro, who is some 101 points adrift.

The next round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship will take place in Pechito's homeland! Hostilities will resume on 6 and 7 August at the Termas de Río Hondo circuit in Argentina.

WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY

Yves Matton (Team Principal, Citroën Racing): "We are satisfied to come away from Vila Real having increased our lead in the World Championship. I just find it regrettable that the street circuits visited by the #wtcc are devoid of overtaking opportunities. It means the races aren't much of a spectacle for those watching live or on television. As regards our drivers, Yvan produced a very solid weekend on a circuit that requires a lot of commitment. That gives him good momentum going into the overseas rounds. For Pechito, Q3 put paid to his chances of a better overall result from the weekend. Given his starting positions, he scored as many points as he could. Congratulations to #tomchilton, too. He has made noticeable progress since the Nürburgring and he is now able to exploit his potential, and the car's. He made an invaluable contribution to Citroën's result this weekend."

Yvan Muller: "The races were pretty much over after the first bend. Tiago Monteiro got away well in the main race and I couldn't go after him. I stayed right on his tail until the end to keep up the pressure. But overtaking a car that is moving at the same speed as you on this circuit is quite simply impossible. Well done to Tiago for his win. He deserves it and I think he had a great time in front of his home crowd. As far as the championship goes, I can't help thinking that it is unfortunate that the points system gives equal weight to the race with the reverse starting grid. It doesn't encourage you to produce good performances."

José María López: "I made a few little mistakes over the weekend. I didn't manage to find my usual confidence level with the car. But you have to look at the positives. Despite tricky starting positions, I produced two sensible races to pick up two fifth places. I scored one point less than Yvan overall. I don't think that's very fair, as he was much better than I was in qualifying. But that is the way the system is, and among my rivals only Tiago scored more than me here. With a 101-point lead, I'm feeling calm and confident. In previous years, I had nowhere near the same advantage at the same stage! Now we are going to prepare for the Argentina round. Obviously, it's going to be special for me and for the whole team."

RESULTS AND STANDINGS

OPENING RACE
1. Tom Coronel (Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1)
2. #tomchilton (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)
3. Nick Catsburg (Lada Vesta WTCC)
4. Mehdi Bennani (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)
5. José María López (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)
6. Rob Huff (Honda Civic WTCC)
7. Thed Björk (Volvo S60 WTCC)
8. Norbert Michelisz (Honda Civic WTCC)
9. #yvanmuller (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)
10. Tiago Monteiro (Honda Civic WTCC)
16. Grégoire Demoustier (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)
Fastest lap: Hugo Valente (2m00.608s)

MAIN RACE
1. Tiago Monteiro (Honda Civic WTCC)
2. #yvanmuller (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)
3. Norbert Michelisz (Honda Civic WTCC)
4. Rob Huff (Honda Civic WTCC)
5. José María López (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)
6. Thed Bjork (Volvo S60 WTCC)
7. Nick Catsburg (Lada Vesta WTCC)
8. Mehdi Bennani (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)
9. Hugo Valente (Lada Vesta WTCC)
10. #tomchilton (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)
12. Grégoire Demoustier (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)
Fastest lap: Rob Huff (1m58.385s)

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: DRIVER STANDINGS
1. José-María López: 244 points
2. Tiago Monteiro: 143 pts
3. Nick Catsburg: 139 pts
4. Mehdi Bennani: 134 pts
5. #yvanmuller: 133 pts
6. Norbert Michelisz: 127 pts
7. Rob Huff: 124 pts
8. Gabriele Tarquini: 104 pts
9. #tomchilton: 103 pts
10. Tom Coronel: 75 pts
15. Grégoire Demoustier: 11 pts

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: MANUFACTURER STANDINGS
1. Citroën: 609 points
2. Honda: 427 pts
3. Lada: 368 pts
4. Polestar: 170 pts



YVAN MULLER MAKES THE FRONT ROW, CITROËN WIN MAC3

In a closely contested day of FIA #wtcc qualifying at Vila Real, #yvanmuller produced a solid display. The four-time World Champion's second-place finish puts him in contention for a win tomorrow. A great team effort from Muller, Chilton and López also gave Citroën victory in MAC3.

The first half of the FIA #wtcc season was regularly disrupted by rain, but the sun was well and truly shining at Vila Real.

On Friday, the drivers reacquainted themselves with the Portuguese street circuit, which has been altered at the chicane that slows the drivers down after the fastest section of the course. Their quest for the optimum setup continued on Friday morning. In the third and final practice session, José María López clocked the fastest time of the weekend so far at 1m56.365s. #yvanmuller was fourth, despite a slight knock that required one of his rear suspension triangles to be replaced during the session.

At 2 p.m., the Citroën C-Elysée WTCCs were ready to set off for qualifying. As on all the other street circuits in the championship, Q1 lasted thirty minutes. Sporting new tyres from the outset, #yvanmuller and José María López quickly took control. Assured of a place in the top twelve, both drivers sat out the last ten minutes.

They would then need to raise their game to make sure they were among the five drivers to qualify for Q3, however. #yvanmuller initially found himself in third position. It was a tough session for Pechito López. He brushed the safety barrier on his first run and had to return to the pits for a checkup and to have a new set of tyres fitted. The Argentine driver was back out on track at the same time as his rivals, but he made a mess of his first flying lap by cutting across the chicane. On his last attempt, he snatched third place, just behind Yvan, who had managed to improve on his time.

López was the third man out in Q3, after Monteiro and Michelisz. Having been four tenths of a second ahead after the second sector, José María went straight on down an escape road and thus found himself relegated to fifth place.

Next up was #yvanmuller, who produced a solid, if not perfect, lap to claim the second-fastest time, after Monteiro. Last man out Rob Huff made a mistake, leaving the order unchanged.

After the eventful qualifying sessions, #yvanmuller, José María López and #tomchilton came back out for MAC3. Packed tightly together throughout the three laps, the three Citroën C-Elysée WTCCs were the fastest to the finish line. The points accumulated by the team mean Citroën keeps its 172-point lead in the Manufacturers' World Championship.

WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY

Yves Matton (Team Principal, Citroën Racing): "Yvan had a good day in qualifying: he was a tenth of a second off pole position and his place on the front row means he can aim for a win tomorrow. José María hit the wall on several occasions and he nearly missed out on a spot in Q3. We don't know what happened yet, but he wasn't able to complete his lap and he will have to deal with two average positions on the starting grid. We didn't think we would be able to challenge for victory in MAC3, as Pechito's car seemed to run into a problem. But everything worked fine once the tyres had been changed. The gaps are very small on this circuit and in these conditions, and that suggests the races could be interesting, despite the lack of overtaking opportunities."

Yvan Muller: "I'm happy with my qualifying. Every time I went out on the track, I put everything I had into it to make sure I made it through to the next stage. From Q1 to Q3, I had to string together four runs, going flat-out in every one. That's how tight it was. In my Q3 lap, I cut across a rumblestrip and part of my suspension got twisted. I then had to cope with substantial vibrations, which is not ideal when you're going at 240 km/h between the safety barriers! I think it cost me pole position, but a spot on the front row is good enough for me. To win tomorrow, I'll have to get a better start than Tiago and make sure I'm the first man to the opening bend. After that, you can't overtake in normal circumstances here. It all seems easy on paper, but motorsport is not so predictable."

José María López: "Even though I've got a comfortable lead in the championship, I'm still attacking hard to get the best result possible. I prefer to make a mistake when trying to be the best rather than playing it safe to secure a minor place. Obviously, I didn't have the best time of things in qualifying today, but I was still close to winning pole position. It is difficult to say what happened for me in Q3... Maybe I made a mistake. Maybe it was a consequence of my collision in Q2. We're going to look at that with the team. Tomorrow, I'm going to have to see what I can do from fifth and sixth on the grid. That's not ideal on a street circuit and it will be hard for me to challenge for a win. But I'll try to score as many points as I can to maintain my lead in the overall standings. Winning a third world title remains my main goal."

RESULTS AND STANDINGS

QUALIFYING
1. Tiago Monteiro (Honda Civic WTCC)
2. #yvanmuller (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)
3. Norbert Michelisz (Honda Civic WTCC)
4. Rob Huff (Honda Civic WTCC)
5. José María López (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)
6. Thed Bjork (Volvo S60 WTCC)
7. Mehdi Bennani (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)
8. #tomchilton (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)
9. Nick Catsburg (Lada Vesta WTCC)
10. Tom Coronel (Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1)
17. Grégoire Demoustier (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)

MAC3
1. Citroën
2. Honda
3. Lada


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