Citroen continues to dominate the WTCC with a 1-2-3 in both races at the Slovakia Ring.

The Citroën Total team monopolised the podium in both of yesterday’s FIA WTCC races at the Slovakia Ring. In race one, the top three finished in exactly the same order as in qualifying, with Yvan Muller getting the upper hand over José María López and Sébastien Loeb. After a blistering start, Loeb emerged triumphant in race two, ahead of López and Muller. 

At the season’s halfway mark, José María López is still the World Championship leader. Meanwhile, Citroën has slightly extended its lead in the Manufacturers’ standings.

The sun was shining bright and the stands were packed as three Citroën C-Elysée WTCCs lined up at the front of the grid for race one. 

When the lights went out, Yvan Muller made the most of his pole position, reaching the first turn ahead of the rest, with Sébastien Loeb and José María López neck-and-neck behind him, the Argentinian driver just about able to hold off the man from Alsace. 

Having qualified in seventh place, Ma Qing Hua found himself at the back of the pack after getting stranded on the grid. 

The Chinese driver immediately set about working his way back up the field, but ultimately withdrew from the race so that his mechanics could locate the cause of his problem before race two.

Out front, Yvan Muller pulled away from his teammates slightly. Throughout the eleven laps, Sébastien Loeb remained just a few metres behind José María López, without ever finding an opportunity to overtake. 

So the three Citroën C-Elysée WTCCs crossed the finished line in the same order in which they started, with Muller recording his fourth win of the season.

A few minutes later, race two began. Despite the team’s best efforts, Ma Qing Hua again suffered a clutch problem and was forced to resign himself to leaving Slovakia empty-handed.

Sébastien Loeb shot out of the blocks like a cannonball, climbing from eighth to second by the first turn. The nine-time World Rally Champion was closely pursued by José María López, and the two Citroën drivers were quickly joined by teammate Yvan Muller, who had found his way past Hugo Valente.

Loeb slipped past Tarquini at the start of the second lap. One lap later, López and Muller did likewise, meaning there were once again three Citroën’s out in the lead. José María López had to use all his racing acumen to hold off persistent pressure from Yvan Muller in a tussle that was spectacular and sporting in equal measure. 

But there would be no more changes in the race order before the chequered flag. This time, car number 9 took the honours, sharing the podium with numbers 37 and 68.

Sébastien Loeb scored his fourth FIA WTCC victory, after wins at Termas de Río Hondo this year and Marrakech and the Slovakia Ring in 2014.

The first half of the season ends with José María López at the top of the standings, 30 points clear of Yvan Muller and 61 points ahead of Sébastien Loeb. Ma Qing Hua drops to seventh in the championship. 

After achieving maximum points this weekend, Citroën’s tally now stands at 529, 163 more than the second-placed team.

WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY

Carlos Tavares, CEO, PSA Peugeot Citroën: “Following an impressive performance in qualifying, these two trebles top off what has been a very exciting weekend. Congratulations to the drivers, who have made sure that all the unstinting efforts of the management, engineers and mechanics have borne fruit. Citroën Racing has once again shown its combative qualities and its strong team spirit. 

The team is an example for the whole PSA group, showing us what we have to do each day: push ourselves to the limit to achieve things we have never done before. We have to do that every day, working together and trusting each other.”

Yvan Muller: “I am obviously really happy with my results in the two races. In race one, getting a good start meant I was virtually assured of victory. 

I attacked from the very start to make sure the guys behind me couldn’t get in my slipstream. I was able to manage the wear to my tyres, but I still had to stay focused, as Pechito and Seb weren’t too far behind. In race two, we all got good starts and we climbed several positions in the first few metres. 

After a few turns, there was only Gabriele Tarquini in front of us. Seb did brilliantly to take the lead… and we followed him!”

Sébastien Loeb: “I’m thrilled to be back on the top step of the podium. The last time was in Argentina, which is a few months ago now! In race one, I tried to force Pechito into an error, but the opportunity to overtake him never presented itself. In the second race, the start was key. I took the right options and immediately found myself battling it out with Gabriele Tarquini. 

He put up a good fight, but I eventually found a way past. I tried to open up a bit of a gap while the others were still behind him. My Citroën C-Elysée WTCC handled fantastically today!”

José María López: “Congratulations to my teammates on their wins! I’m satisfied with my two podium places. It means I have only lost a few points off my championship lead. 

I know that it’s going to be a tough fight right down to the wire, but it’s a real positive to be top of the table at the halfway point of the season, and still with a decent lead. We are all pushing ourselves to our limits. We never stop working and improving. It’s extremely motivating to be part of a team like that.”

Ma Qing Hua: “I’m obviously disappointed to be leaving Slovakia without a point to my name, especially since I had hoped for good results after qualifying. But I had clutch problems at the start of both races. Fortunately, I won’t have to wait long before the next race!”

NEXT STOP: PAUL RICARD

The FIA WTCC teams will have no time to rest, with the next round taking place at the Paul Ricard circuit next weekend. 

The team’s trucks will head straight to Provence as soon as the Citroën C-Elysée WTCCs have been serviced. The first free practice session will take place on Friday at 12 noon. Two further sessions are scheduled for Saturday at 9:00 and 11:30, with qualifying getting under way at 15:00. The two races will be held at 12:45 and 14:00 on Sunday.

Needless to say, the Citroën Total team will be wanting to shine on home soil. Last year, Yvan Muller and Sébastien Loeb pulled off a one-two finish in the first race, while in race two, José-María López achieved the impressive feat of moving through the field from last place to first, with Yvan Muller joining him on the podium.

Citroen continues to dominate in the World Touring car Championships at the Hungaroring track, Hungary.

Shortly before the cars lined up on the grid, a few drops of rain fell, leaving the Hungaroring track damp. All the drivers opted to keep their slicks on, and their decision was vindicated as the races were ultimately contested in dry conditions.

José María López got off to a flying start from the second row. He first got the better of Hugo Valente, before taking the first bend at a rapid pace to move past Yvan Muller and into the lead. Behind them, Sébastien Loeb and Ma Qing Hua collided, allowing Valente to climb back up to third. With his bumper damaged and his aerodynamics adversely affected, Sébastien Loeb found himself in sixth, behind Ma Qing Hua and Tiago Monteiro.

After a few laps, the gap between Pechito López and Yvan Muller had widened considerably and the Argentine driver was able to power towards his third race win of the season. On a circuit known to be short on overtaking opportunities, there were no further changes to the race order before the finish, with Ma Qing Hua and Sébastien Loeb taking fourth and sixth place respectively.

The best-placed Citroën driver on the grid for race two was Ma Qing Hua. Of all the C-Elysées, however, it was Sébastien Loeb who got away the best when the lights went out. The first bend saw Rob Huff go into a spin, causing Muller and Qing Hua to collide. López, who was not ideally placed on the outside, was able to take advantage to get back on Loeb’s tail.

The order of the drivers at the end of lap one was exactly the same at the finish: Michelisz, Coronel, Chilton, Monteiro, Loeb, López, Muller, Valente and Qing Hua. For the first time this season there were no Citroën drivers on the podium, but the team’s points tally for the weekend nevertheless stands them in excellent stead in both the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ standings.

WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY

Yves Matton (Team Principal, Citroën Racing): “We knew that this would be a difficult weekend, with a weight penalty of 60kg on the most winding circuit of the season. Despite that, we have come out of the meeting with one pole position and one one-two finish. This first European meeting of the year has confirmed the popularity of FIA WTCC in Central Europe. We are satisfied with our weekend, but our thoughts are already turning to the next round at the Nürburgring. It promises to be one of the highlights of the World Championship.” 

José María López: “I think my start to race one was the best I’ve ever made in the WTCC. I’m really happy with this win, particularly after qualifying, which didn’t go brilliantly. Points-wise, this meeting has allowed me to extend my lead over Seb slightly, so it’s all positive.”

Yvan Muller: “I would have preferred to win, but I didn’t get as good a start as Pechito. I was out of the running after the first bend. I fought hard for the first three or four laps, then held back a little to avoid taking any pointless risks. Second is better than third.”

Sébastien Loeb: “I got away well in race one, before making a mistake in my procedure. At the end of the straight, Ma moved over in front of me and we hit each other. My ‘splitter’ was damaged and I wasn’t able to overtake. My second start was much better, but I spent the whole race behind Tiago Monteiro. He didn’t slip up once.”

Ma Qing Hua: “At the start of race one, I tried to come around on the outside, but Sébastien ran into me and that cost me a few places. I then had to battle with a car that was hard to drive. In the second race, I went for the inside option. This time, Yvan hit me from behind, when Huff span off. The car’s setup was totally off and I consider myself lucky to have finished in the top 10.”

LADA, from communist upbringing to corporate giant, the new face of Russian cars starts here.

LADA has proven to be a brand that will not be beaten down, regardless of who owns the company or the political atmosphere in its home country of Russia, and and in it's surrounding countries.

At this years Moscow Motor Show, LADA has given the world a look at what they are prepared to do to counter act the increasing growth of imports and the growth of brands that are building plants in and around the Baltic states.

Since LADA's owner AutoVAZ was taken control by the Renault-Nissan alliance, the quality of the products have improved hand over fist, and the days of poor quality and reliability are now long gone, instead we have better looking products, more modern underpinnings, better engines and far superior interiors, all of which are helping LADA to beat off the ever increasing competition.

Russia today, in terms of its motor industry, can be classed as a companion to the United Kingdom of the 1960's and 1970's, both had home grown motor industries that had the lions share of the sales, and like the UK car industry, Russia is suffering from imports that undercut, or offer better quality products for the money, however, whereas the UK failed to counter act this, LADA is fighting back with a vengeance, The Granta, Kalina and Largus are the start, with the Largus being a re badged Dacia.

The world has become used to the LADA brand again, with its, not very successful, entry to the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), the Granta, is a pretty car, that has given LADA a glimpse of a great future, long gone are the days of re hashed Fiat 128 cast offs, and today we have a range of cars that are getting better with each new model.

That brings us nicely to the latest concepts launched at the 2014 Moscow show, three distinct models, firstly the LADA Vesta, a B/C platform sedan car that will take over where the Granta finishes, then there will be the Vesta WTCC, this model should be a vast improvement on the current Granta WTCC, and with Rob Huff and James Thompson definitely driving for LADA, the driving quality should at last be matched with vehicle quality.

Lastly there will be the LADA X-Ray, this model is another Dacia, well, under the skin it is the Sandero Stepway, so the concept at least gives you an idea of the size, and in my opinion it looks far superior to the Dacia it is hived off from.

No car company these days is complete without an SUV, and LADA still has the NIVA of old, this model has been around for decades, yet still sells well,  but its quality is far from the best, and it is models like this that will keep LADA from really competing with the best that Europe and world has to offer, not only do they have these new concepts, they will be launching later in the year a Cross version of the Largus and Kalina, so pushing models into another niche area, which is what the need to do to get sales from all area's.

So, will it succeed, ultimately, yes, the government will make it succeed, possibly with import taxation increases, and allowances for buying home grown products, either way, with the help of the French and Japanese owners, LADA will go from strength to strength, along with new products, expanded markets and favourable political interference, LADA should do well.

However, there is one rather large stumbling block for LADA, and that's with sister company Dacia, the Romanian company is better know in Europe with a base price product, would it be feasible for LADA to enter new territories where Dacia already is, with a second budget brand, or will it;s entry cause Dacia sales to drop, most brands have a cheap offshoot, VW, they are developing, one, GM has Chevy, but Renault-Nissan has three, Datsun, LADA and Dacia, is it really acceptable corporate wise to have three very cheap brands, competing, eventually, in the same markets.

Datsun has only just been relaunched, and they have two models, Dacia has a full range like LADA, only time will tell if they can all work happily together, or will it be a case of the two stronger brands will survive and the third laid to rest, again, I for one, would love to see LADA back in the United Kingdom, it was a reasonably successful brand here, but like Skoda, of that era, it has left a bad taste, the cars would be rusty before you left the forecourt, and would be worth nothing by the time you got them home, but they had a loyal following and the Samara was a nice car, unlike the Riva and Niva.

Good luck to LADA, I look forward to seeing the new Vesta racing at the top in the WTCC, and with any luck, a return to the UK would be a nice idea, if, impractical.

JON MOWER

LOEB wins rain soaked WTCC 1st race with 2nd cancelled at the Slovakia Ring.

Sébastien Loeb took his second WTCC win in a dramatic Race 1 at the Slovakia Ring that had to be neutralized with the safety-car in lap 7 because of the heavy rain and was red-flagged two laps later.
The Frenchman benefitted from an excellent start from P2 on the grid to overtake team-mate and poleman José María López.

A faultless race by the two, despite the conditions, gave Citroën another 1-2. Third was Norbert Michelisz (Honda) ahead of the Chevrolet RML cars of Coronel, Chilton and Morbidelli, with the Honda cars of Monteiro and Tarquini right behind.

Rob Huff took the points of ninth for LADA and Yvan Muller finished tenth after having to serve a drive-through for jump start.

In his first real WTCC appearance, Petr Fulín (Campos Racing) imposed his SEAT among TC2 cars, after John Filippi went into the gravel during the safety-car period.

Key moments

Formation lap - Kozlovskiy experiences an oil leak and pits; it will not start
Start – Loeb kicks off better and takes the lead ahead of López, Michelisz, Muller (who will get a drive-through for jumping the start), Chilton, Coronel, Morbidelli and Huff.
Lap 1 – Engstler and Thompson go out at turn 1 but continue.
Lap 3 – Muller serves the drive-through and rejoins 14th. Borković goes side-ways at turn 6 and Bennani goes wide to avoid him.
Lap 4 – Fulín passes Di sabatino and takes the lead in TC2. Borković is again off at T6 with some body damage in the rear left.
Lap 5 – López is now getting closer to Loeb; Muller passes Bennani for 13th. Coronel passes Chilton for 4th after a short fight. Filippi passes Di Sabatino for 2nd in TC2 and shortly after takes the lead from Fulín. Also Engstler passes Di Sabatino.
Lap 6 – Valente is suffering aquaplaning on the straight. Huff attacks Tarquini for 8th.
Lap 7 – As rain increases, the safety-car is deployed.
Lap 8 – Filippi stops in the pits after an excursion into the gravel.
Lap 9 – The race is red-flagged and will not resume.

Quotes from Race 1 podium finishers at Slovakia Ring

Sébastien Loeb: “I am happy of winning after a difficult start of the weekend. I did not think it was possible to make it to row one on the grid, but that proved essential on a day like this. I took a better start than Pechito and then it was a matter of staying on the track and using the advantage of better visibility. It was really raining a lot and conditions were changing from lap to lap in almost every corner. I think it was a good decision to stop the race, as it was becoming really wet and risky and we would have probably lost three quarters of the grid before the finish.”

José María López: “I am not unhappy with second, as it is an excellent result towards the championship situation and consistency throughout the season will be key. For sure, I did not take a good start. I didn’t do a real mistake, it was simply not a good start and maybe this is my weakest point, something I have to work on. In the race, Seb was faster in some portions and me in others, but in such conditions you couldn’t do much.It was wise to stop the race.”

Norbert Michelisz: “I am happy to be on the podium for the first time this season. I think we did a big step forward after Budapest, thanks to the testing sessions at the Hungaroring after the race weekend, and this is starting to pay off. I had a good start and could pass Yvan, I even passed López but getting to the first braking, I decided to play it safe because it was very difficult to understand where the limit was in these conditions.Actually, I played safe for the entire race…”

Petr Fulín: “It’s quite a busy weekend for me, racing both in the WTCC and the ETCC, with different cars, but it is definitely nice to find myself on the podium in both series. The race was ok for 3-4 laps, then it was really difficult, one had the impression to be a passenger on highway…”

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