López turns team player in MAC3

José María López will be in the thick of the inter-marque action when Termas de Río Hondo hosts the Manufacturers Against the Clock team time trial on Saturday 6 August.

New for 2016, the Tour de France-inspired competition puts squads from Citroën, Honda and LADA against the clock over two timed laps of the 4.806-kilometre course.

The three makes (Polestar will participate when it enters a third car from 2017) nominate three drivers to take part in WTCC MAC3, which follows Qualifying Q3 once all cars have been refuelled and fitted with new tyres.

Running in reverse Manufacturers’ championship order, as soon as a team’s three cars leave the grid side by side, the clock starts and stops once the last car completes two flying laps. Failure to get all three cars over the line – or if the second or third car doesn’t finish within a maximum of 15 seconds after the first car – means no points.

And in what is a team-based competition, a mistake by one member can have serious consequences for the rest of the squad, which proved to be the case for LADA in Russia when a jumped-start by Gabriele Tarquini cancelled out victory.

And the competition in WTCC MAC3 has been close – even too close to call. After Citroën won the inaugural event in France by 0.030s, the spectacle was raised even further when it tied on time with Honda in Slovakia, meaning both makes picked up 10 points towards their Manufacturers’ championship totals.