2015 WTCC: Lopez extends lead after victory in Race 1

The winner of the WTCC race 1 at Hungaroring is Citroen driver and reigning champion Jose Maria Lopez.

The Argentinian started really fast from the second row and immediately took the lead position ahead of Muller who was at the pole position. Another driver who also had a good start was Tiago Monteiro in Honda, who moved up to fifth position, eventually sending Sebastien Loeb back to sixth place. The Portuguese driver was pushing for the fourth position, but Ma Qing Hua was strong enough to hold off all the attacks, as did Rob Huff in a battle for ninth with Tom Coronel.

Lopez had a mere advantage of almost three seconds over last year’s Hungaroring race winner Muller, while Hugo Valente kept third place with very precise driving. Home crowd favourite Norbert Michelisz, who will start from pole position in Race 2, tried his best to move up to seventh place but Tom Chilton managed to defend his position and clinch precious points for the Yokohama drivers’ Trophy.

In the end, Lopez comfortably won his third and Citroen’s fifth race of the season, overtaking teammate Muller and Hugo Valente at the third place. The remaining points went to Ma Qing Hua, Tiago Monteiro, Sebastien Loeb, Tom Chilton, Norbert Michelisz, Rob Huff and Tom Coronel.

Even though Huff managed to accumulate some points, it was another disappointing day for Lada. James Thompson had to retire before the race because of health problems, while Mikhail Kozlovskiy didn’t participate in the race.