2014 FIA WTCC Race of Russia

Last updated
Flag of Russia.svg 2014 FIA WTCC Race of Russia
Race details
Moscow Raceway FIM.svg
Date8 June, 2014
Location Volokolamsk, Russia
Course Moscow Raceway
3.931 kilometres (2.443 mi)
Race One
Laps 16
Pole position
Driver Flag of Argentina.svg José María López Citroën Total WTCC
Time 1:38.651
Podium
First Flag of Argentina.svg José María López Citroën Total WTCC
Second Flag of Italy.svg Gabriele Tarquini Castrol Honda Team
Third Flag of France.svg Sébastien Loeb Citroën Total WTCC
Fastest Lap
Driver Flag of Argentina.svg José María López Citroën Total WTCC
Time 1:40.148
Race Two
Laps 16
Podium
First Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Ma Qing Hua Citroën Total WTCC
Second Flag of France.svg Yvan Muller Citroën Total WTCC
Third Flag of Morocco.svg Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing
Fastest Lap
Driver Flag of France.svg Hugo Valente Campos Racing
Time 1:40.742

The 2014 FIA WTCC Race of Russia (formally the 2014 FIA WTCC Lukoil Race of Russia) was the sixth round of the 2014 World Touring Car Championship season and the second running of the FIA WTCC Race of Russia. It was held on June 8, 2014 at the Moscow Raceway in Volokolamsk, Russia.

Contents

Both races were won by Citroën Total WTCC. José María López won race one and Ma Qing Hua won race two. Ma's victory in race two was the first for a Chinese driver in a FIA World Championship race. [1]

Background

López continued to lead the drivers' championship after the first five rounds, forty–one points ahead of his teammates and defending champion Yvan Muller. Franz Engstler held the lead of the Yokohama Trophy.

Citroën Total WTCC expanded to four cars for the Russian round with Chinese driver Ma Qing Hua joining the team. [2] Campos Racing added a second TC2T SEAT for WTCC débutant Nikita Misiulia. [3]

The compensation weights were changed 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 and Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1s both gained 20 kilograms (44 lb) of ballast to increase their weight to 1,120 kilograms (2,469 lb). The Lada Granta 1.6Ts remained at the base weight of 1,100 kilograms (2,425 lb). [4]

Report

Free practice

Muller was fastest in the first practice session, Gabriele Tarquini was second for the Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team and Tom Coronel was third in the ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet. [5]

Muller stayed on top in the second practice session, Tarquini was second once again while Hugo Valente was third quickest in the Campos Racing Chevrolet. [6]

Qualifying

Tarquini set the pace in the first part of qualifying with his teammate Tiago Monteiro second. Coronel just missed out on a place in Q2, ending the session five–hundredths of a second down on Dušan Borković. Robert Huff was the best placed of the Lada drivers in 14th while Gianni Morbidelli was 17th after running wide at turn six and damaging his front splitter. TC2 cars filled the last four positions with Franz Engstler claiming pole position and Misiulia taking the final grid slot.

López led the second part of qualifying ahead of Tarquini, Sébastien Loeb, Tom Chilton and Monteiro. Muller failed to get through to the third session after experiencing oversteer in his Citroën C-Elysée WTCC. Valente ended the session tenth to claim pole position for race two with Ma Qing Hua sharing the front row. Honda privateers Norbert Michelisz and Mehdi Bennani would start race two from the second row.

López went on to claim pole position in the Q3 shootout, Tarquini and Monteiro finished second and third ahead of Loeb and Chilton. [7]

Race One

Tarquini charged up the inside of López at the start but the Citroën driver hung on around the outside to retain the lead. On the first lap Muller began his recovery from a bad qualifying by taking Chilton for fifth place while his teammate Loeb moved up to third at the expense of Monteiro. At the end of the second lap Borković tried a pass up the inside of Valente at the final corner and collided with the rear of his teammate, putting both drivers out of the race on the spot. The race was run under yellow flags in the final sector for the next two laps while the stricken Chevrolets were removed from the outside of the final corner. Once the yellow flags cleared Chilton retook fifth place off Muller on the pit straight after Muller ran wide at the last corner. Another driver making up after a poor qualifying was Coronel and by lap six he was hassling Michelisz for eighth place before passing him at the last corner on lap eight. In the TC2 class Misiulia passed John Filippi to move up to third in class, he held this position briefly before going off at the final corner on lap nine and putting his SEAT into the tyre barriers. In the final laps of the race there were two battles developing in the top five; Loeb was pursuing Tarquini for second while Muller was chasing Chilton's fourth place. It was on the final lap that Muller completed the pass at the first corner on Chilton by first trying to go around the outside of the Chevrolet and then switching to the inside. López had built up a lead of 3.1 seconds at the finish line and took victory with Tarquini holding off Loeb for second place. [8]

Race Two

Campos Racing hurried to repair the car of pole sitter Valente during the fifteen minutes of repair time and got the car out three seconds before the pit lane closed. His teammate Borković did not get out in time and started the race from the pitlane. Valente started on pole and Michelisz jumped up ahead of Ma, López failed to get away and was sat on the grid as the rest of the field disappeared around the first corner. There was contact as Muller got turned around the front of Bennani as Loeb and Chilton ran wide to avoid the incident. There was contact between Mikhail Kozlovskiy and James Thompson further back while at the start of the second lap Michelisz was defending from Ma who was looking to take back second place. Race leader Valente was issued with a drive–through penalty for not having his wheel fitted at the five-minute warning before the start of the race; the battle between Michelisz and Ma would now become the battle for the lead. On lap three Loeb lost two places to Coronel and Morbidelli, up ahead Ma and Michelisz continued to battle for the lead with Ma trying a pass on Michelisz on the last corner on lap three and four. Chilton ran wide on lap five and then was tapped from behind by Morbidelli, the two incidents dropped him from fourth to outside the points in eleventh. Lap six saw Muller moving up the order and taking the Hondas of Bennani and Monteiro in one move in the opening part of the lap. Valente went into the pit lane to serve his penalty on lap seven as Ma took the lead of the race from Michelisz. Tarquini went off the circuit and after a brief delay resumed near the back of the field before returning his car to the pits to retire. At the end of lap eight Muller moved up to second with a pass on Michelisz who now had his rear bumper hanging off. On lap 12 the second factory Honda of Monteiro slowed down with technical problems which moved René Münnich up into the final points place. Ma and Muller had built up a gap of six seconds to Michelisz in third who was holding off Bennani, Coronel, Loeb and Chilton. Michelisz lost the back of his car on lap 15 and dropped behind Bennani and Coronel and into the clutches of Loeb at the start of the last lap who was himself under attack from Chilton. Despite slowing down at the finish line Ma secured his first WTCC victory ahead of Muller. Bennani took the final podium place with Coronel fourth and Loeb took fifth from Michelisz with a tap on a rear of the Zengő Motorsport Honda at the last corner. [1]

Following a collision with Chilton during the race, Monteiro was given a five–place grid penalty for the first race in Belgium. [9]

Results

Qualifying

Pos.No.NameTeamCarCQ1Q2Q3Points
137 Flag of Argentina.svg José María López Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC TC11:39.5601:38.8321:38.6515
22 Flag of Italy.svg Gabriele Tarquini Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC TC11:38.7541:38.8721:38.8774
318 Flag of Portugal.svg Tiago Monteiro Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC TC11:39.4261:39.4231:39.1663
49 Flag of France.svg Sébastien Loeb Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC TC11:40.1181:39.1111:39.5802
53 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tom Chilton ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC11:39.4431:39.4191:39.6981
61 Flag of France.svg Yvan Muller Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC TC11:39.9531:39.575
725 Flag of Morocco.svg Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing Honda Civic WTCC TC11:40.0281:39.715
85 Flag of Hungary.svg Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport Honda Civic WTCC TC11:39.8481:40.001
933 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Ma Qing Hua Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC TC11:40.2801:40.092
107 Flag of France.svg Hugo Valente Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC11:39.9141:40.312
1177 Flag of Germany.svg René Münnich ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC11:40.2401:40.368
1298 Flag of Serbia.svg Dušan Borković Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC11:40.288no time set
134 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC11:40.327
1412 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Robert Huff Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6T TC11:40.639
1514 Flag of Russia.svg Mikhail Kozlovskiy Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6T TC11:40.653
1611 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James Thompson Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6T TC11:40.655
1710 Flag of Italy.svg Gianni Morbidelli ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC11:42.091
186 Flag of Germany.svg Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC TC2T1:44.011
198 Flag of Italy.svg Pasquale Di Sabatino Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC TC2T1:44.229
2027 Flag of France.svg John Filippi Campos Racing SEAT León WTCC TC2T1:46.467
2150 Flag of Russia.svg Nikita Misiulia Campos Racing SEAT León WTCC TC2T1:46.498

Race 1

Pos.No.NameTeamCarCLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
137 Flag of Argentina.svg José María López Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC TC11627:05.120125
22 Flag of Italy.svg Gabriele Tarquini Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC TC116+3.170218
39 Flag of France.svg Sébastien Loeb Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC TC116+3.425415
41 Flag of France.svg Yvan Muller Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC TC116+5.902612
53 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tom Chilton ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC116+6.816510
633 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Ma Qing Hua Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC TC116+7.50598
718 Flag of Portugal.svg Tiago Monteiro Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC TC116+13.09936
84 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC116+15.061134
95 Flag of Hungary.svg Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport Honda Civic WTCC TC116+24.76682
1012 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Robert Huff Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6T TC116+27.754141
1125 Flag of Morocco.svg Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing Honda Civic WTCC TC116+28.0677
1210 Flag of Italy.svg Gianni Morbidelli ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC116+28.57917
1377 Flag of Germany.svg René Münnich ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC116+29.32311
1411 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James Thompson Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6T TC116+35.18816
1514 Flag of Russia.svg Mikhail Kozlovskiy Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6T TC116+38.47215
166 Flag of Germany.svg Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC TC2T16+1:12.43218
178 Flag of Italy.svg Pasquale Di Sabatino Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC TC2T16+1:24.02319
1827 Flag of France.svg John Filippi Campos Racing SEAT León WTCC TC2T16+1:37.94220
Ret50 Flag of Russia.svg Nikita Misiulia Campos Racing SEAT León WTCC TC2T7Race incident21
Ret7 Flag of France.svg Hugo Valente Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC11Race incident10
Ret98 Flag of Serbia.svg Dušan Borković Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC11Race incident12

Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Race 2

Pos.No.NameTeamCarCLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
133 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Ma Qing Hua Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC TC11627:11.310225
21 Flag of France.svg Yvan Muller Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC TC116+1.261518
325 Flag of Morocco.svg Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing Honda Civic WTCC TC116+12.252415
44 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC116+12.4241312
59 Flag of France.svg Sébastien Loeb Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC TC116+14.725710
63 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tom Chilton ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC116+14.89068
75 Flag of Hungary.svg Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport Honda Civic WTCC TC116+15.11836
810 Flag of Italy.svg Gianni Morbidelli ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC116+19.894174
97 Flag of France.svg Hugo Valente Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC116+20.15712
1077 Flag of Germany.svg René Münnich ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC116+20.984111
1198 Flag of Serbia.svg Dušan Borković Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 TC116+26.81312 1
1211 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James Thompson Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6T TC116+31.68616
136 Flag of Germany.svg Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC TC2T16+1:03.47818
148 Flag of Italy.svg Pasquale Di Sabatino Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC TC2T16+1:15.84319
1527 Flag of France.svg John Filippi Campos Racing SEAT León WTCC TC2T16+1:27.55320
1650 Flag of Russia.svg Nikita Misiulia Campos Racing SEAT León WTCC TC2T16+1:35.88921
Ret18 Flag of Portugal.svg Tiago Monteiro Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC TC111Electrical8
Ret12 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Robert Huff Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6T TC110Technical14
Ret2 Flag of Italy.svg Gabriele Tarquini Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC TC17Steering9
Ret14 Flag of Russia.svg Mikhail Kozlovskiy Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6T TC10Race incident15
Ret37 Flag of Argentina.svg José María López Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC TC10Gearbox10

Bold denotes Fastest lap.

^1  — Borković started from the pit lane.

Standings after the event

References

  1. 1 2 "RACE 2 – MA WRITES MOTORSPORT HISTORY". World Touring Car Championship . Kigema Sport Organisation. 8 June 2014. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  2. "Citroën expands to four cars for Moscow Raceway". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. 1 June 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  3. Ravaioli, Fabio (29 May 2014). "ENTRY LIST" (PDF). World Touring Car Championship . Kigema Sport Organisation. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  4. "20 EXTRA KILOS FOR HONDA AND CHEVY". World Touring Car Championship . Kigema Sport Organisation. 29 May 2014. Archived from the original on 4 June 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  5. "PRACTICE 1 – EIGHT CARS COVERED BY SIX TENTHS". World Touring Car Championship . Kigema Sport Organisation. 7 June 2014. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  6. "PRACTICE 2 – MULLER AND TARQUINI STAY ON TOP". World Touring Car Championship . Kigema Sport Organisation. 7 June 2014. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  7. Mills, Peter (7 June 2014). "Moscow WTCC: Jose Maria Lopez secures third pole of 2014". Autosport . Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  8. Mills, Peter (8 June 2014). "Moscow WTCC: Jose Maria Lopez in control in race one". Autosport . Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  9. "MONTEIRO IS GIVEN GRID PENALTY". World Touring Car Championship . Kigema Sport Organisation. 8 June 2014. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
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