Spa, Race 2: Lopez recovers to victory

There was no stopping WTCC points leader José María López in the 14th round of this year’s championship. The Argentine driver used the superior speed of his Citroën C-Elysée to pick off his opponents one by one, usually hunting them down at speed through the back straight and the Blanchimont corners before going for the kill in the braking zone for the Bus Stop chicane.

Only Chevrolet privateer Tom Coronel, who had led from the start, resisted Lopez initially before being demoted anyway on the Raidillon. Yvan Muller brought his Citroën home in second, while Coronel still salvaged a second podium finish of the season from Tiago Monteiro and Sébastien Loeb.

Franz Engstler scored his 12th win from 14 starts in TC2.

Key moments

— Start – Coronel makes a blitz start and leads the field through La Source and up the Raidillon. Valente and López swap paint at the end of Les Combes straight.
— Lap 1 – Coronel leads from Morbidelli and the Honda cars of Monteiro and Tarquini. Front row starter Bennani has dropped to tenth. Monteiro passes Morbidelli entering the chicane.
— Lap 2 – Michelisz passes Tarquini for fourth. López passes Tarquini for fifth and Michelisz for fourth.
— Lap 3 – Muller passes Tarquini for sixth on top of the Raidillon. Chilton passes Bennani for 11th. López passes Morbidelli for third entering the chicane. Muller passes Michelisz for fifth.
— Lap 4 – Loeb passes Tarquini and Valente and runs in seventh. López passes Monteiro entering the chicane and takes second.
— Lap 5 – Muller passes Morbidelli for fourth. Ma pits and retires.
— Lap 6 – Borković retires. López hunts down Coronel but the Dutchman resists a first attempt at the chicane.
— Lap 7 – López does what nobody normally does and passes Coronel entering the Raidillon uphill sweep. Muller passes Monteiro for third and Loeb passes Morbidelli for fifth. Muller then passes Coronel in the chicane and takes second.
— Lap 9 – López scores his fifth win of the season ahead of Muller. Coronel takes his second podium finish. Franz Engstler scores yet another win in TC2.