Nordschleife, Race 2 : López rules the Nordschleife

Perfect weekend for the Citroën driver

By Emmanuel Touzot

28 May 2016 - 13:40
Nordschleife, Race 2 : López rules (...)

José María López doubled up at FIA WTCC Race of Germany by winning the Main Race at the Nürburgring Nordscheife after a battle with Norbert Michelisz.

Honda driver Michelisz, promoted to the front row of the grid, made a better start than pole-sitter López to take the lead down the inside of Turn 1. López quickly responded though and reclaimed first place around the outside of the Schumacher S.

He led by three seconds at the end of the first lap, but that advantage was slashed to less than a second at the end of lap two. The gap between the Citroën and the Honda would come down again on the third and final tour but López held on to win by 0.435 seconds.

Tom Chilton was again the top WTCC Trophy driver and again on the outright podium in third. Rob Huff got very close to his fellow Briton on the final lap – even making contact – but had to settle for fourth. Mehdi Bennani passed Nicky Catsburg to finish fifth.

Polestar Cyan Racing had a great race, with its two drivers Fredrik Ekblom and Thed Björk working their way up to seventh and eighth respectively, past the LADAs of Gabriele Tarquini and Hugo Valente.

Sabine Schmitz finished just outside the points on this occasion in 11th.

Pos. Driver Team Car Time
1 Jose Maria Lopez Citroen Total WTCC Citroen 3 laps
2 Norbert Michelisz Honda Racing Team JAS Honda +0.435
3 Tom Chilton Sebastien Loeb Racing Citroen +0.915
4 Rob Huff Honda Racing Team JAS Honda +1.908
5 Mehdi Bennani Sebastien Loeb Racing Citroen +2.431
6 Nicky Catsburg LADA Sport Lada +4.905
7 Fredrik Ekblom Polestar Cyan Volvo +6.072
8 Thed Bjork Polestar Cyan Volvo +8.008
9 Gabriele Tarquini LADA Sport Lada +8.675
10 Hugo Valente LADA Sport Lada +13.860
11 Sabine Schmitz Munnich Motorsport Chevrolet +23.305
12 John Filippi Campos Racing Chevrolet +28.180
13 Ferenc Ficza Zengo Honda +33.913
14 Grégoire Demoustier Sebastien Loeb Racing Citroen +38.285
15 Tiago Monteiro Honda Racing Team JAS Honda DNS
16 Yvan Muller Citroen Total WTCC Citroen DNS
17 Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet DNS

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