Losail, FP1: José María López leads the way in Qatar

No stopping WTCC champion López

By Franck Drui

26 November 2015 - 18:00
Losail, FP1: José María López leads the

José María López continues to be the man to beat at the Losail International Circuit after he clocked the best time in Free Practice 1 for FIA WTCC DHL Race of Qatar.

The double World Touring Car champion, who was fastest in testing earlier today, took 2m02.453s to complete the 5.380-kilometre lap in his Citroën C-Elysée WTCC. Mehdi Bennani was the top Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy contender in second with Sébastien Loeb third and Stefano D’Aste a strong fourth for the privateer ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport team from Germany.

Gabriele Tarquini was fifth fastest for Honda with Chevrolet privateer Hugo Valente sixth, Norbert Michelisz seventh, Nicky Catsburg the leading LADA driver in eighth, Yvan Muller ninth and Nicolas Lapierre P10 in a second works LADA Vesta.

The 30-minute session provided the WTCC drivers with their first opportunity to sample the Losail International Circuit under the venue’s start-of-the-art floodlighting system, which provides enough illumination to light a residential street from Doha to Moscow.

Free Practice 2 gets underway at 21h30 local time with the two 12-lap night races taking place on Friday when the battle for the runner-up spot between Loeb and Muller and the Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy fight between Bennani and Michelisz will be settled.

Pos. Driver Team Car Time
1 Jose Maria Lopez Citroen Total WTCC Citroen 2:02.453
2 Mehdi Bennani Sebastien Loeb Racing Citroen 2:02.863
3 Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WTCC Citroen 2:03.068
4 Stefano D’Aste Munnich Motorsport Chevrolet 2:03.300
5 Gabriele Tarquini Honda Racing Team JAS Honda 2:03.353
6 Hugo Valente Campos Racing Chevrolet 2:03.492
7 Norbert Michelisz Zengo Motorsport Honda 2:03.514
8 Nicky Catsburg LADA Sport Rosneft Lada 2:03.538
9 Yvan Muller Citroen Total WTCC Citroen 2:03.546
10 Nicolas Lapierre LADA Sport Rosneft Lada 2:03.569
11 Ma Qing Hua Citroen Total WTCC Citroen 2:03.705
12 Tiago Monteiro Honda Racing Team JAS Honda 2:03.719
13 John Filippi Campos Racing Chevrolet 2:04.136
14 Tom Chilton ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet 2:04.315
15 Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet 2:04.321
16 Robert Huff LADA Sport Rosneft Lada 2:04.385
17 Nasser Al-Attiyah Campos Racing Chevrolet 2:04.445
18 Grégoire Demoustier Craft-Bamboo Racing Chevrolet 2:04.739

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