2014 FIA WTCC Race of China, Shanghai

The 2014 FIA WTCC Race of China, Shanghai was the tenth round of the 2014 World Touring Car Championship season and the fifth running of the FIA WTCC Race of China. It was the second of two rounds held in China in 2014, the first having taken place at the Goldenport Park Circuit in Beijing the previous weekend. It was held on 12 October 2014 at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China.

China 2014 FIA WTCC Race of China, Shanghai
Race details
Round 10 of 12 in the 2014 World Touring Car Championship at Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China.
Date12 October, 2014
LocationShanghai, China
CourseShanghai International Circuit
4.603 kilometres (2.860 mi)
Race One
Laps 14
Pole position
Driver Argentina José María López Citroën Total WTCC
Time 1:48.782
Podium
First Argentina José María López Citroën Total WTCC
Second China Ma Qing Hua Citroën Total WTCC
Third France Yvan Muller Citroën Total WTCC
Fastest Lap
Driver China Ma Qing Hua Citroën Total WTCC
Time 1:50.833
Race Two
Laps 14
Podium
First Morocco Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing
Second Portugal Tiago Monteiro Castrol Honda WTCT
Third Argentina José María López Citroën Total WTCC
Fastest Lap
Driver Italy Gabriele Tarquini Castrol Honda WTCT
Time 1:51.316

Race one was won by José María López for Citroën Total WTCC and race two was won by Mehdi Bennani for Proteam Racing. Victory for Bennani in race two was the first for a Moroccan driver in an FIA–sanctioned race. Citroën secured the manufacturers' title for first time while Franz Engstler wrapped–up the Yokohama Trophy.

Background

López led the drivers' championship coming into the round, sixty–six points ahead of teammate Yvan Muller. Franz Engstler held the lead of the Yokohama Trophy.

William Lok replaced Michael Soong at Campos Racing as planned, joining regular driver John Filippi.[1]

When the compensation weights were revised after the previous round; the Citroën C-Elysée WTCC retained the maximum ballast to keep their weight at 1,160 kilograms (2,557 lb). The Honda Civic WTCCs lost 10 kilograms (22 lb) of ballast to weigh–in at 1,120 kilograms (2,469 lb) and the Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1s gained 20 kilograms (44 lb) to drop their weight to 1,140 kilograms (2,513 lb). The Lada Granta 1.6Ts remained at the base weight of 1,100 kilograms (2,425 lb).[2]

Report

Testing and free practice

López and Muller were 1–2 in Fridays test session.[3]

Muller was quickest in the foggy conditions of free practice one on Saturday morning, the Hondas of Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro separated the four Citroëns in the top–six.[4]

Ma Qing Hua led a Citroën 1–2–3 in free practice two. The session had been briefly interrupted by yellow flags for Lok's Campos SEAT which had gone off at the first corner.[5]

Qualifying

Ma was quickest in the first part of qualifying with him and his Citroën teammates filling the first four positions. Gianni Morbidelli was the first driver to miss out on a place in Q2 while all three Lada Sport cars missed out on Q2 with James Thompson the quickest of them in 14th.

Citroën was 1–2–3–4 once again in Q2 with Muller the quickest ahead of López, Ma and Sébastien Loeb. Zengő Motorsport's Norbert Michelisz was the fifth driver to through to the Q3 superpole session. Mehdi Bennani finished tenth to take pole position on the reversed race two grid, taking the place in the final moments of qualifying from Tom Coronel who had returned to the pit lane early.

López took pole with his Q3 lap one–tenth better than that of Ma's. Muller was third with Michelisz spoiling a perfect result for Citroën ahead of fifth placed Loeb.[6]

Race One

At the start Muller had defend his third place from Michelisz, behind them the two factory Hondas of Monteiro and Tarquini were fighting over fifth place with Tarquini edging ahead. On the back straight Monteiro was under attack from Loeb although it would be on the following lap where Loeb would move ahead of Monteiro. On lap three the right rear wheel of eighth placed Tom Chilton's car came off and he was out of the race. On lap four Loeb was chasing Michelisz for fourth place, benefiting from the extra straight line speed of the Citroën on the back straight. Loeb passed Michelisz at the end of lap six to make it four Citroëns in the first four places. Double waved yellow flags were shown at the final corner near the end of the race when Lok went off at the final corner with broken suspension which left his SEAT in the gravel on the outside of the pit straight. Robert Huff slowed with a puncture on the last lap as López led a Citroën 1–2–3–4 to secure the first World Touring Car Championship manufacturers' title for the French team. Franz Engstler finished first in the TC2 class to secure the Yokohama Trophy title.[7]

Race Two

Bennani started on pole position and retained the lead at the start while fellow front row starter Hugo Valente dropped back behind Tarquini and Monteiro. After the first few corners Bennani was starting to break away from the rest of the field who were bunched up behind Valente. On lap two Loeb made contact with Muller at the final hairpin while attempting a pass, breaking Muller's right–rear suspension in the process and the reigning champion peeled off into the pits to retire his car. On lap five Huff stopped at the side of the circuit after turn two following contact with Gianni Morbidelli who was later given a drive–through penalty for causing the collision. On the same lap Tarquini started to slow with technical problems promoting Monteiro to second as López moved into third at the expense of Valente. On lap six Loeb went up the inside of Valente at the final hairpin but it was on the following lap that he could make that move stick. Bennani held on to claim his first outright win in the WTCC with Monteiro second and López third.[8]

After the race Loeb was given a 30–second time penalty for the incident with Muller, dropping him from fourth to twelfth in the final classification.[9]

Results

Qualifying
Pos. No. Name Team Car C Q1 Q2 Q3 Points
1 37 Argentina José María López Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC TC1 1:49.546 1:49.418 1:48.782 5
2 33 China Ma Qing Hua Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC TC1 1:49.313 1:49.436 1:48.898 4
3 1 France Yvan Muller Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC TC1 1:49.514 1:49.299 1:49.424 3
4 5 Hungary Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport Honda Civic WTCC TC1 1:50.312 1:49.848 1:49.681 2
5 9 France Sébastien Loeb Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC TC1 1:49.875 1:49.579 1:49.830 1
6 18 Portugal Tiago Monteiro Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC TC1 1:50.657 1:50.178
7 2 Italy Gabriele Tarquini Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC TC1 1:50.266 1:50.229
8 3 United Kingdom Tom Chilton ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC1 1:50.229 1:50.351
9 7 France Hugo Valente Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC1 1:51.300 1:50.406
10 25 Morocco Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing Honda Civic WTCC TC1 1:50.782 1:50.528
11 4 Netherlands Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC1 1:50.694 1:50.548
12 98 Serbia Dušan Borković Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC1 1:50.867 1:51.665
13 10 Italy Gianni Morbidelli ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC1 1:51.655
14 11 United Kingdom James Thompson Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6T TC1 1:51.662
15 12 United Kingdom Robert Huff Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6T TC1 1:51.781
16 14 Russia Mikhail Kozlovskiy Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6T TC1 1:51.953
17 77 Germany René Münnich ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC1 1:52.393
18 6 Germany Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC TC2T 1:55.315
19 27 France John Filippi Campos Racing SEAT León WTCC TC2T 1:56.753
20 38 Hong Kong William Lok Campos Racing SEAT León WTCC TC2T A 1:58.664
21 26 Macau Felipe De Souza Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC TC2T A 1:58.719
  • Bold denotes Pole position for second race.

Race 1
Pos. No. Name Team Car C Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 37 Argentina José María López Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC TC1 14 26:15.097 1 25
2 33 China Ma Qing Hua Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC TC1 14 +2.089 2 18
3 1 France Yvan Muller Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC TC1 14 +5.793 3 15
4 9 France Sébastien Loeb Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC TC1 14 +6.175 5 12
5 5 Hungary Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport Honda Civic WTCC TC1 14 +16.050 4 10
6 2 Italy Gabriele Tarquini Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC TC1 14 +16.483 7 8
7 18 Portugal Tiago Monteiro Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC TC1 14 +18.295 6 6
8 4 Netherlands Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC1 14 +22.058 11 4
9 7 France Hugo Valente Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC1 14 +25.896 9 2
10 25 Morocco Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing Honda Civic WTCC TC1 14 +26.278 10 1
11 10 Italy Gianni Morbidelli ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC1 14 +47.194 13
12 98 Serbia Dušan Borković Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC1 14 +53.710 12
13 6 Germany Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC TC2T 14 +1:29.282 18
14 27 France John Filippi Campos Racing SEAT León WTCC TC2T 14 +1:43.122 19
15 12 United Kingdom Robert Huff Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6T TC1 13 +1 Lap 15
16 26 Macau Felipe De Souza Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC TC2T A 13 +1 Lap 21
17 77 Germany René Münnich ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC1 10 +4 Laps 17
Ret 14 Russia Mikhail Kozlovskiy Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6T TC1 6 Retired 16
Ret 38 Hong Kong William Lok Campos Racing SEAT León WTCC TC2T A 5 Suspension 20
Ret 3 United Kingdom Tom Chilton ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC1 2 Wheel 8
Ret 11 United Kingdom James Thompson Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6T TC1 0 Wheel 14

Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Race 2
Pos. No. Name Team Car C Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 25 Morocco Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing Honda Civic WTCC TC1 14 26:21.882 1 25
2 18 Portugal Tiago Monteiro Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC TC1 14 +2.590 5 18
3 37 Argentina José María López Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC TC1 14 +4.041 10 15
4 5 Hungary Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport Honda Civic WTCC TC1 14 +13.976 7 12
5 33 China Ma Qing Hua Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC TC1 14 +14.416 9 10
6 4 Netherlands Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC1 14 +21.725 11 8
7 3 United Kingdom Tom Chilton ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC1 14 +22.933 31 6
8 7 France Hugo Valente Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC1 14 +27.276 2 4
9 98 Serbia Dušan Borković Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC1 14 +27.855 12 2
10 11 United Kingdom James Thompson Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6T TC1 14 +28.028 20 1
11 14 Russia Mikhail Kozlovskiy Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6T TC1 14 +39.940 15
12 9 France Sébastien Loeb Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC TC1 14 +41.2382 6
13 10 Italy Gianni Morbidelli ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC1 14 +1:06.588 13
14 6 Germany Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC TC2T 14 +1:11.237 17
15 27 France John Filippi Campos Racing SEAT León WTCC TC2T 14 +1:35.752 18
16 26 Macau Felipe De Souza Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC TC2T A 13 +1 Lap 19
Ret 77 Germany René Münnich ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC1 6 Brakes 16
Ret 2 Italy Gabriele Tarquini Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC TC1 5 Technical 4
Ret 12 United Kingdom Robert Huff Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6T TC1 4 Race incident 14
Ret 1 France Yvan Muller Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC TC1 2 Race incident 8
DNS 38 Hong Kong William Lok Campos Racing SEAT León WTCC TC2T A 0 Did not start 21

Bold denotes Fastest lap.

^1  — Chilton started from the pit lane.
^2  — Loeb received a 30–second penalty after the race for his collision with Muller.

Standings after the event
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of drivers' standings.

References
  1. "ENTRY LIST" (PDF). World Touring Car Championship. Kigema Sport Organisation. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  2. Mills, Peter (9 October 2014). "Lada: Rob Huff's Beijing Goldenport WTCC win reward for huge effort". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  3. Casillo, Pietro (10 October 2014). "José María López fastest in Shanghai testing". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  4. Casillo, Pietro (11 October 2014). "Yvan Muller sets the pace in Shanghai Free Practice 1". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  5. Casillo, Pietro (11 October 2014). "Ma Qing Hua leads Citroën 1-2-3 in Shanghai FP2". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  6. Mills, Peter (11 October 2014). "Shanghai WTCC: Jose Maria Lopez takes fifth pole of 2014". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  7. Mills, Peter (12 October 2014). "Shanghai WTCC: Jose Maria Lopez wins as Citroen clinches 2014 title". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  8. "Race 2 – Bennani leads 1-2 for Honda!". World Touring Car Championship. Kigema Sport Organisation. 12 October 2014. Archived from the original on 16 October 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  9. "Loeb is given a penalty in Race 2". World Touring Car Championship. Kigema Sport Organisation. 12 October 2014. Archived from the original on 20 October 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
World Touring Car Championship
Previous race:
2014 FIA WTCC Race of China, Beijing		 2014 World Touring Car Championship season Next race:
2014 FIA WTCC Race of Japan
Previous race:
2014 FIA WTCC Race of China, Beijing		 FIA WTCC Race of China Next race:
2015 FIA WTCC Race of China
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.