LOPEZ LEADS AFTER FIA WTCC MOSCOW
10 Jun 2014

The sun shone in Moscow’s Raceway for the current leader of the FIA World Touring Car Championship, with a dominant performance in race 1. However the Russian experience left a sweet and sour taste for Lopez as he was left stranded in the grid on Race 2, with his car unable to start as a result of a broken gear linkage. However Moscow’s Raceway provided another driver with a chance to write history.

Ma Qing Hua, became the first Chinese driver to win a FIA World Championship Race, on a fourth works Citroen, on race 2. As a late comer to the Championship, - half way through - fourth team member of the dominant Citroen Racing team Ma had started on second place on the grid and although facing strong challenges from Michelisz and Valente in the first rounds, managed to keep a cool head and his strong car in contention throughout. Towards the end of the race, current World Champion Yvan Muller also challenged fiercely trying to catch up with Ma although the Chinese driver kept him at bay across the chequered flag. “I would like to thank everybody who helped me. It was very difficult today but we achieved an important victory” added an elated Ma.

Earlier on race 1, “Pechito” Lopez had secured an important win to maintain him as leader of the Championship with a 41 points advantage over Muller and 48 points in front of third qualified Sebastien Loeb. Runner up on this race was Tarquini who was able to distance himself a little from Loeb who eventually came third.

In the YOKOHAMA Trophy sponsored by the FIA WTCC Official Tyre supplier Franz Engstler ended a triumphant weekend on his personal claim on the TC2T class with 2 category wins which strengthens his position at the top of the table and now has the German veteran with a 36 point lead over second qualified Di Sabatino and 43 points over Filippi.

The current FIA WTCC Overall Standings are as follows:

Drivers' Championship

1. LÓPEZ José María   209 pt.

2. MULLER Yvan   168 pt.

3. LOEB Sébastien   161 pt.

4. MONTEIRO Tiago   105 pt.

5. TARQUINI Gabriele   96 pt.

The Championship will resume at Spa-Francorchamps, 21-22 June 2014.