Losail, Race 1: López makes WTCC history with night race victory
Mehdi Bennani and Hugo Valente on the podium
World champion José María López has equalled his season-best record of 10 wins by triumphing in the opening FIA WTCC DHL Race of Qatar, which took place at the spectacular floodlit Losail International Circuit near the Qatari capital Doha.
Driving a Citroën C-Elysée WTCC, López led away from the DHL-presented pole position and, after surviving a first-corner attack from team-mate Sébastien Loeb, was able to sprint to an impressive victory in the WTCC’s first-ever night race ahead of Mehdi Bennani and Hugo Valente.
By winning the Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy category in second overall, Bennani will start race two a mere two points behind Norbert Michelisz in the battle for the title for independent racers.
Loeb, who started third, fell to fourth, fought back ahead of Valente for third before dropping back at Turn 1 on lap two. He hassled Valente for the remainder of the 12-lap race but ultimately settled for fourth, a result that nevertheless extends his advantage to 12 points over Yvan Muller in the fight to be WTCC vice-champion. Muller finished sixth behind Ma Qing Hua with Michelisz seventh ahead of fellow Honda driver Tiago Monteiro, who overtook LADA’s Nicky Catsburg for eighth on the penultimate lap.
Stefano D’Aste completed the top 10, while Gabriele Tarquini recovered from a handful of spins to beat local hero Nasser Al-Attiyah to P16.
The second WTCC DHL Race of Thailand gets underway at 22h40 local time
WTCR
- The race of Marrakech is cancelled, replaced by Salzburg
- Malaysia, Race 3: Kristoffersson takes victory as Michelisz claims title
- Malaysia, Race 2: Guerrieri wins to set-up final-round title decider with Michelisz
- Malaysia, Race 1: Michelisz triumph to extend points lead
- New tracks plus weight rule tweak as WTCR revs up for next three seasons