FIA WTCC - no surprises in Slovakia
22 Jun 2015

There were no surprises in Slovakia at the weekend’s FIA World Touring Car Championship. A very strong Citroen Team dominated with wins by Yvan Muller in race 1 and Sebastien Loeb in race 2, while current Champion and leader of the FIA World Touring Car Championship José María López, managed two second places to keep him at the top.

The Championship which has the Japanese Tyre manufacturer YOKOHAMA as exclusive tyre supplier has now completed half of the season and although the top three places seem difficult to be overcome, both Honda with Gabrielle Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro and Lada particularly with Rob Huff, continue to press on. It was Rob Huff on his Lada Vesta who managed a credible fourth place in race 1 continuing to show the progression of the Lada team this season and augurs well for the future. 

The Citroen domination in the first race with a 1, 2, 3 at the chequered flag was a strong statement which was to be followed on race 2, to the detriment of the Italian veteran “Gladiator” Gabrielle Tarquini. The Honda driver saw how his advantage and good start on race 2 was slowly taken away by all three Citroen drivers and in the end he was relegated to fourth place behind Loeb, López and Muller.

In the YOKOHAMA Trophy Hugo Valente made back to back wins in the category for non-works teams with 5^th place in both races and is climbing up the ranks as a strong contender for the prestigious award which is currently led by Norbert Michelisz.

The acclaimed local hero Mato Homola managed a 13^th place in race 1, although his weekend was a mix of emotions due to technical problems that somewhat dampened the excitement of his racing at WTCC. Homola however is still a title contender for the European Championship (ETCC) in the single make category.

The FIA WTCC Championship continues 26^th-28^th June at the Paul Ricard Circuit in France.