José María López relaxed ahead of Suzuka title decider

José María López took his sixth pole position of the year earlier today. The Argentinian is now one step closer to the World title, as he only needs 11 points to clinch his first crown in his rookie year.

Speaking about the qualifying session, the Citroën driver said:”It was not easy, but the team gave me a fantastic car. I expected to be in a better shape in Q1 and Q2, but it’s always difficult to know where you are when you use old tyres in Free Practice. I felt really confident but, as has happened in the past, it was more difficult than I thought it would be. Sébastien [Loeb] and Yvan [Muller] put me under pressure with their great laps and somehow I struggled to keep the pace in the first two segments.”

“We made a few changes, so I was a little worried, especially in the first sector and, to be honest, I did make some mistakes. I thought it was not going to be enough for pole position, but the second sector was very good and when I heard that Yvan’s first sector was similar to mine I realized I could be on pole. It’s a good way to start the weekend, but it was very tight and one of the most difficult qualifyings of the year.”

When asked how will he prepare for tomorrow, the Argentinian looked quite relaxed:”I like to do it as I normally would, if it is God’s will then it [the championship win] will happen. Sometimes when I think about it my hands shake a bit, but these two days I worked as I normally would. It may also rain tomorrow, so that is another thing that may mix the cards. For sure it’s going to be a long night but I hope I will be able to close the championship here before Macau, which is a very difficult track.”

A fourth place will be enough for José María López to win the title tomorrow in Race 1 even should Yvan Muller won the race, while Muller has to finish on the podium regardless of where López finishes to keep the championship alive to race two.