WTCC 2014: Lopez and Bennani secure 1st place win in Shanghai Rounds 19 and 20

Argentine driver Jose Maria “Pechito” Lopez and Morrocan driver Mehdi Bennani won 1^st place at Rounds 19 and 20 of the 2014 FIA World Touring Car Championship held in Shanghai Jiading, China.

On Race 1, it was a 1-2-3-4 finish for Citroen as Jose Maria “Pechito” Lopez led the pack to victory along with the coveted Manufacturers' Title for the French automaker.

“We are happy for the great job the entire team did and proud to reach the title here in China,” said Team Principal Yves Matton.

Finishing second and third accordingly were Lopez's teammates Ma Qing Hua and Yvan Muller. At fourth place was fellow Citroen driver Sebastion Loeb who had to contend with Honda cars and the only non Citroen driver to make it to the top 5 was Norbert Michelisz who defended his position from Tarquini and Monteiro.

If Citroen dominated Race 1, Honda took over in Race 2 as fellow drivers Mehdi Bennani and Tiago Monteiro of Proteam Racing of Valmiro Presenzini garnered the Japanese automaker their first win with a TC1 car. Furthermore, the victorious race also graced Honda and the racing team their first win at WTCC along with Bennini as the first Moroccan driver to win at a WTCC racing event.

“If it is a dream, wake me up!” exclaimed Mehdi Bennani

Jose Maria “Pechito” Lopez was able to get 3^rd place but his other Citroen teammates that were able to secure the podium in Race 1 faired worse in Race 2 as Loeb collided with Muller during the race and had to settle for fourth while Ma only got to sixth place. Finishing fifth place again was Norbert Michelisz.

Overall, Lopez is still leading in the Drivers' standings as he has now a 93-point lead, enabling him to get closer to the title.

The championship race will carry on at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan on October 26, 2014 for Rounds 21 and 22.