Preview: First time out in Beijing for the WTCC

The FIA World Touring Car Championship rolls into Beijing for the first time this weekend, as the final third of the season gets underway, with everyone chasing Citroën, and José María López leading the standings ahead of four-time champion Yvan Muller.

With the first half of the season taking place at a rapid pace with half of the year’s races taking place between April and June, the mid-season saw a change of tempo with just two meetings in the last four months. Now, with Beijing this weekend, Shanghai the next, Suzuka before the month’s out and then the season finale at Macau in November, momentum will pick up again as 31-year-old Argentinian José María López chases his first title in his first full season in the Championship.

Last time out at his home track in Termas de Río Hondo, López dominated proceedings with a maximum points haul with pole and two victories, extending his points lead over Citroën team-mate Yvan Muller to 60 points, though there are still 220 available from the final four meetings. Having not talked about the title all season, and very much playing things race-by-race, López admits he will probably be changing his approach for the final furlong of the season.

“I would love to go back and experience those hours after the Termas races again. I was totally drained, but it was an incredible feeling to have won pole position and two races in front of my home crowd. It’s something I hadn’t even dreamed of,” said López.

“Up till now, I didn’t want to think about the title, as the gap was still very narrow. Now, with a 60-point lead, things are different. I’m not going to change my approach at the upcoming meetings, but I may settle for the minor places rather than take risks all the time.”

With two DNFs and a jump-start in Slovakia having cost Yvan Muller a stack of points, the Frenchman is consigned to the fact that he’d need the same kind of misfortune to hit his team-mate to be able to close the points gap, with Citroën predominantly sharing the wins between them, with 15 from 16 races this year.

“Mathematically, it’s all still possible, but I have to be realistic, the gap is impossible to make up, unless Pechito (López) gets into real trouble and ends up having some pointless races. If I’ve still got a mathematical chance going into Macau, then I’ll begin to believe it’s possible, because anything could happen in that last race. Deep down, I think it’s José María’s year – he’s had lots of success.”

While Citroën’s well developed C-Elysée WTCCs have been travelling the world between Europe, Argentina and Asia, their rivals have been trying their best to work on the gap during the summer break, with Honda having built a test car to use in Europe, and with Campos Racing having gone to the extra cost to fly back one of their Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1s to Spain to put together a test programme with their drivers Dusan Borkovic and Hugo Valente.

Honda have made a development with their Mugen-built engine as well, with the Civic’s weak point known to be its straight-line speed compared to Citroën and Chevrolet RML, and after tests at the Hungaroring and Slovakia, as well as participation in practice and qualifying at a round of the VLN series at the Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit, Honda are optimistic ahead of Beijing.

“We have made major steps in the engine development and I am fully confident that we will perform stronger from now on,” said Daisuke Horiuchi of Honda R&D.

Gabriele Tarquini believes the short Beijing Goldenport circuit may play to the Civic’s strengths, but the following three races will be more of a struggle.

“We really have to improve now. Certain tracks may offer us a helping hand, such as the short Goldenport Park Circuit in Beijing, however, based on what we know of the Shanghai track, races there will be much more difficult,” said the 2009 champion. “That’s why I will try out different elements that we’re working on at different times; some parts for instance might not be fully efficient or effective in the short term, but may bear fruit in the long term. After all, the 2015 season is not that far away.”

After their most successful weekend in the Championship in Argentina, with 2012 champion Rob Huff securing their first ever podium at Termas de Río Hondo, Lada Sport, now running without LUKOIL backing for the final four meetings, will be looking to follow up with some strong results in the final few races for the Granta WTCC. Like Honda, Lada believe the Goldenport circuit will be their best opportunity for results, while the final three races will much likely favour the Citroëns and the Chevrolets.

“Beijing is going to be a new and interesting experience for the WTCC, as the championship venture out onto unchartered territory at Goldenport Park Circuit in a new region of China,” said Huff. “At only 2.4m in length, this is the shortest track we visit and that should remove a lot of the emphasis on aerodynamics, which could play to LADA Sport’s advantage. I’m expecting it to be more about mechanical grip and there’s no doubt we have taken significant steps forward in recent months, so it will be exciting to see how we fare.”

In an unusual change, qualifying will take place on Sunday morning, with the weekend’s activities condensed into two days due to the late arrival of the cars and Championship’s infrastructure from Argentina. The TC1 class drivers are unchanged, but there are some new faces in the TC2T class, with Liqui Moly Team Engstler now joined by Filipe de Souza in the #26 BMW 320 TC, replacing Pasquale Di Sabatino who only had budget for the European season, and with Michael Soong joining Campos Racing in their second SEAT León WTCC alongside John Filippi, who is now Franz Engstler’s only rival for the TC2T Yokohama Trophy title.

Entry List

No – Driver – Nat – Team – Car
1 – Yvan Muller – FRA – Citroën Total WTCC – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
2 – Gabriele Tarquini – ITA – Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team – Honda Civic WTCC
3 – Tom Chilton – GBR – ROAL Motorsport – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
4 – Tom Coronel – NED – ROAL Motorsport – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
5 – Norbert Michelisz – HUN – Zengõ Motorsport – Honda Civic WTCC
6 – Franz Engstler* – GER – Liqui Moly Team Engstler – BMW 320 TC
7 – Hugo Valente – FRA – Campos Racing – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
9 – Sébastien Loeb – FRA – Citroën Total WTCC – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
10 – Gianni Morbidelli – ITA – Münnich Motorsport – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
11 – James Thompson – GBR – Lada Sport – Lada Granta 1.6T
12 – Rob Huff – GBR – Lada Sport – Lada Granta 1.6T
14 – Mikhail Kozlovskiy – RUS – Lada Sport – Lada Granta 1.6T
18 – Tiago Monteiro – POR – Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team – Honda Civic WTCC
25 – Mehdi Bennani – MOR – Proteam Racing – Honda Civic WTCC
26 – Filipe de Souza* – MAC – Liqui Moly Team Engstler – BMW 320 TC
27 – John Filippi* – FRA – Campos Racing – SEAT León WTCC
33 – Ma Qing Hua – CHN – Citroën Total WTCC – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
37 – José María López – ARG – Citroën Total WTCC – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
77 – René Münnich – GER – Münnich Motorsport – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
80 – Michael Soong* – HKG – Campos Racing – SEAT León WTCC
98 – Dusan Borkovic – SER – Campos Racing – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1

* Drivers eligible for the Yokohama Trophy (TC2T class)

Timetable

Saturday 4th October
08:20 – Testing (FP0)
12:20 – Free Practice 1
17:20 – Free Practice 2

Sunday 5th October
8:30 – Qualifying
14:50 – Race 1 (26 Laps)
15:50 – Race 2 (26 Laps)

* All times CST (CET -6, BST-7)

Compensation Weight

Car – Ballast – Final Weight

TC1:
Citroën C-Elysée WTCC – +60kg – 1,160kg
Honda Civic WTCC – +30kg – 1,130kg
Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 – +20kg – 1,120kg
Lada Granta 1.6T – +0kg – 1,100kg

TC2T:
BMW 320 TC – N/A – 1,150kg
SEAT León WTCC – N/A – 1,150kg