Sebastien Loeb started from pole position for the first time in his WTCC career at Paul Ricard and converted it into his third victory of the season, but leaves him home race disappointed after he failed to finish race two after he hit a tyre stack at Turn 4.
The tyre stacks were placed on the circuit following the drivers’ briefing after Friday testing, with mixed support from the drivers. A number of drivers championed the idea of the tyre stacks to ensure no one made use of the run-off areas after a controversial GT race at the circuit last weekend, while others were concerned over the potential damage they could cause.
Loeb was caught out, as he was last year at the chicane at Paul Ricard, in race two, colliding with the tyre stack and damaging the front-left of his Citroën C-Elysée WTCC.
“I was following Pechito (López) and Ma (Qing Hua) and made a stupid mistake at Turn 4. I was very close behind Ma, I was understeering a little bit and there was a tyre at the exit of the corner and I couldn’t see as I was close behind Ma, when he went past it just appeared in front of me and there’s nothing I could do,” said Loeb.
“(In race one) I was pleased to start in pole position as it was the first time for me in the championship, but I didn’t make a very good start, I had to protect a bit on the first lap and after I was still leading at the end of the first lap, I was able to push and make a gap
“I tried to make an advantage while Pechito and Yvan were fighting and lost a little bit of time so I was able to make a comfortable gap and from this point I just concentrate on my driving and tried not to make mistakes.”
“I’m happy to have pole position and win the first race in France, it was just magic, but I am disappointed as I had the performance to do a good second race, and I’m still losing points to my rivals for the championship, so I can’t say I’m happy at the end of the weekend.”
On the scene of one of his more sensational performances a year ago, when the Argentinian went from dead-last on the grid to claiming then only his third career victory in the WTCC, López went on to take his 16th win in the championship on Sunday, moving clear of Augusto Farfus in the record books, with three-time champion Andy Praiulx’s tally of 18 his next target.
After a busy first race where he battled with his closest championship rival Yvan Muller throughout but eventually had to settle for third where he’d qualified, things were more exciting for the reigning champion in race two, with López launching from eighth on the grid to fourth at the start, which became third when Sébastien Loeb Racing driver Mehdi Bennani received a drive-through penalty for a jump start.
López had a coming together on lap seven with Monteiro at Turn 1, which the stewards deemed a racing incident, but still found himself third as Citroën team-mate Ma Qing Hua was able to sneak by during the incident.
López passed Ma four laps later, and then closed in on race leader Norbert Michelisz, taking the lead with two laps to go and taking his fifth win of the season, critically extending his points lead.
“I’m just enjoying it because I didn’t know when I was going to win again,” said López. “It’s been four races and people were asking why I was not winning? But (to me), it’s normal because I have drivers next to me who are very, very good. They are two great champions (Yvan Muller & Sébastien Loeb) and Ma also showed the speed.
“I was working hard for it and sometimes they are quicker than me and stronger than me. For me it was a release a little bit, I needed it but the emotion was more because the race was very difficult, passing some people, having some contact.”