For the first time this season, all four of the Citroën Total team’s C-Elysée WTCCs made it through to the final phase of qualifying.
- At the Shanghai International Circuit, José María López grabbed pole position, ahead of Ma Qing Hua. Yvan Muller set the third fastest time, whilst Sébastien Loeb finished fifth.
- With six races left, Citroën now needs just two points to secure its first FIA WTCC Manufacturers’ title.
After José María López, Yvan Muller and Ma Qing Hua had taken it in turns to set the fastest time in free practice, the Citroën Total team went into qualifying looking to grab pole position. Despite a shower falling few minutes before the start, the Citroën C-Elysée WTCCs retained their dry track set-up.
After the first 20 minutes, the Citroën drivers all comfortably secured their places in Q2 by locking out the top four. But to make it through to pole shootout in Q3, they had to get into the top 5 in Q2. After a good first run, the Citroën cars all headed back to the pits to put on a second set of new tyres. Stopped by an electrical problem, Sébastien Loeb could only look on as the session drew to a close. He nonetheless finished fourth, behind Yvan Muller, José María López and Ma Qing Hua.
The first Citroën driver to head out in Q3, Sébastien Loeb was ahead of Norbert Michelisz in the first two sectors. However, he ruined his chances after clipping a tyre wall, ripping off part of his front left-hand wing. A few seconds later, Ma Qing Hua produced a stunning lap to be the first to dip below the 1:49 mark.
Shortly afterwards, José María López went even better to set a time that would prove good enough for pole position, with an incredible lap of 1:48.782. Despite completing an error-free lap, Yvan Muller was unable to beat the Argentine’s time.
Thanks to the nine points collected, Citroën moved another step closer to its first FIA WTCC title. Regardless of the results of the other manufacturers, the team now needs just two more points to be crowned world champion.
WHAT THEY HAD TO SAYJosé María López: “I wasn’t particularly confident before Q3, because I hadn’t been able to improve between Q1 and Q2. We made a few changes to the set-up, but I still thought that it would be difficult to beat Ma Qing Hua. I had to beat my personal best by 6/10ths! In the end, we made the right calls and I managed to put in a perfect lap. As I crossed the finishing line, I knew that I had a chance of taking pole position. It’s an excellent result for the team and for me. Little by little, we are getting closer to the end of the season and I can feel the pressure mounting. But that’s the way it is when you are fighting to win a Championship!”
Ma Qing Hua: “The whole team has done a fantastic job since the start of the weekend. As I’m not doing a full season, I have to try even harder to get to the same level as my rivals. We have made a lot of progress, to the extent where I set the fastest time in free practice. And then I managed to make it through to Q3 for the first time. I opted for a fairly safe approach for this final attempt. I put in a good lap, but I could have gone a little bit faster.”
Yvan Muller: “My lap in Q3 was good, I didn’t make any mistakes, but I just wasn’t quick enough. We’ll have to look at the data acquisition to understand where I lost time. In any case, I did my best. Tomorrow should be a big day for the team, because we should win the Manufacturers’ title. As far as I’m concerned, I’m thinking mainly about 2015!”
Sébastien Loeb: “Qualifying was pretty tough today. In Q2, I had an electrical issue which prevented me from making a final attempt. I had to watch the others out on track, but they didn’t manage to beat me so I held onto a top 5 place. My Q3 lap was pretty good, until I hit a tyre wall on the final corner. If I hadn’t done that, we might have taken all of the first four places.”
QUALIFYING
1. José María López (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC) 1:48.7822. Ma Qing Hua (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC) 1:48.8983. Yvan Muller (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC) 1:49.4244. Norbert Michelisz (Honda Civic WTCC) 1:49.6815. Sébastien Loeb (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC) 1:49.830
