The 2014 FIA WTCC Race of France (formally the FIA WTCC JVC Kenwood Race of France) was the second round of the 2014 World Touring Car Championship season and the sixth running of the FIA WTCC Race of France. It was held on 20 April 2014 at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, France.
Both races were won by Citroën Total WTCC, reigning champion Yvan Muller won race one and José María López won race two.
Background After the opening round of the season, José María López was leading the drivers' championship by one point over of teammate Sébastien Loeb. Franz Engstler was leading the Yokohama Trophy for drivers in TC2 specification cars.
After a crash in race two caused significant damage to his car, Tom Coronel missed the French round while his Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 was repaired. Mehdi Bennani came into the weekend with a three–place grid penalty for race one having been deemed to have caused the collision.
Report
Testing and free practice López led a Citroën 1–2 in Friday testing, he headed Loeb and the Zengő Motorsport Honda of Norbert Michelisz.
Loeb headed Campos Racing's Hugo Valente in free practice one on Saturday. The session was interrupted when Yvan Muller collided with a tyre stack and damaged his Citroën C-Elysée WTCC.
Valente was quickest in the second practice session with Tom Chilton in second making it a Chevrolet 1–2.
Qualifying Muller was quickest in the first part of qualifying while the Lukoil Lada Sport drivers all missed out, as Mikhail Kozlovskiy suffered a steering arm issue, James Thompson stopped on the circuit and Robert Huff narrowly missed out on a Q2 place to Tiago Monteiro.
Muller set the pace once again in the second part of qualifying ahead of his Citroën team mates. Gabriele Tarquini in fifth put a Honda through to Q3 for the first time this season.
In the Q3 shoot–out it was Loeb who came out on top to claim his first WTCC pole position with López and Muller second and third. Tarquini was fourth ahead of the Chevrolet of Valente.
Loeb and López were later excluded from qualifying due to an error with their automatic fuel cut-off systems. They would start at the back for both races with Muller gaining pole position for race one and Mehdi Bennani promoted to pole for race two.
Race One The race began on a damp track, Muller got a slow start and was passed by Tarquini and Michelisz before the first corner. Muller regained the lead on lap three while Valente was under pressure from Huff who had put himself up to fifth place with a good start. By lap three Loeb had worked his way up to sixth place and the Frenchman made the move at the start of lap four. Loeb then took fourth from Valente and Huff followed him through to demote Valente again. Loeb had eventually fought his way up to third behind Tarquini while López was delayed by the Lada of Huff who he finally cleared on lap seven. On lap ten Michelisz came together with López, sending the Citroën sideways although neither car sustained damage and they continued in fourth and fifth. After a number of laps fighting over second place, Tarquini made a mistake over one of the kerbs and this allowed Loeb to close in and pass the Honda. Further back Valente tried a pass up the inside of Huff although the Chevrolet lost grip and had a near-miss with Huff and Michelisz. Shortly after Huff and Valente moved up to fifth and sixth at the expense of Michelisz. Muller claimed his first win of the season with Loeb second and Tarquini on degrading tyres third. Engstler finished 16th and was the Yokohama Trophy winner.
Race Two Monteiro leapt ahead of Bennani at the start, Morbidelli was spun around further back in the pack by Chilton. At the end of lap two Muller and Loeb collided as Muller tried to go up the inside of his teammate. On lap five Tarquini passed Bennani to move up to second behind Monteiro who had put a gap between himself and the rest of the field. Both López and Muller then moved up ahead of Bennani in their pursuit of the factory Hondas. On lap seven Tarquini made a mistake at the chicane which allowed López and Muller through. At this point Loeb took out one of the tyre stacks while attempting a pass on Dušan Borković and the debris on the track led to the safety car being brought out. The race was restarted on lap 10, Monteiro defended from López immediately as the Citroën tried to go around the outside at the first corner. This opened the door for Muller to try to pass López for second place. At the back of the field John Filippi collided with Engstler which brought out the safety car for a second time, Chilton meanwhile was issued with a drive–through penalty for causing the collision with Morbidelli on the opening lap. The race resumed on lap 12, Loeb tried to pass Borković at the first corner and the pair came together with Loeb being pushed into a half spin. On lap 14 López passed Monteiro to take the lead, Muller followed through and took part of Monteiro's front bumper off as he went through. On lap 17 Valente drifted wide allowing Huff to have a look, the pair touched with Valente going wide and Morbidelli behind saw an opportunity to pass and move himself up to ninth place. Loeb had passed Borković after a number of laps and was now looking to catch Bennani, he had a lunge at the first corner. At the front López led Muller home at the checkered flag with Monteiro taking the final podium spot. Engstler took the Yokohama Trophy victory once again.
Results
Qualifying Name Team Car Q1 Q2 Q3 Points 1 1 Yvan Muller Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCCTC1 1:30.269 1:29.566 1:29.857 5 2 2 Gabriele Tarquini Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCCTC1 1:31.198 1:30.741 1:30.808 4 3 7 Hugo Valente Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1TC1 1:30.644 1:30.451 1:31.139 3 4 5 Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport Honda Civic WTCCTC1 1:31.110 1:30.751 2 5 3 Tom Chilton ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1TC1 1:30.932 1:30.897 1 6 98 Dušan Borković Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1TC1 1:31.568 1:31.099 7 10 Gianni Morbidelli ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1TC1 1:31.042 1:31.207 8 18 Tiago Monteiro Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCCTC1 1:31.693 1:31.224 9 77 René Münnich ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1TC1 1:31.239 1:31.345 10 25 Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing Honda Civic WTCCTC1 1:31.487 1:32.458 11 12 Robert Huff Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6TTC1 1:32.142 12 11 James Thompson Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6TTC1 1:33.162 13 14 Mikhail Kozlovskiy Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6TTC1 1:34.210 14 27 John Filippi Campos Racing SEAT León WTCCTC2T 1:35.972 15 6 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCTC2T 1:36.022 16 8 Pasquale Di Sabatino Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCTC2T 1:36.083 107% time: 1:36.587 EX 9 Sébastien Loeb Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCCTC1 Excluded EX 37 José María López Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCCTC1 Excluded Bold denotes Pole position for second race.
— Loeb and López were excluded from qualifying after their automatic fuel cut-off systems were found not to be working during scrutineering.
Race 1 Name Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 1 Yvan Muller Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCCTC1 16 27:58.347 1 25 2 9 Sébastien Loeb Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCCTC1 16 +12.727 17 18 3 2 Gabriele Tarquini Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCCTC1 16 +15.026 2 15 4 37 José María López Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCCTC1 16 +18.663 18 12 5 12 Robert Huff Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6TTC1 16 +31.393 10 10 6 7 Hugo Valente Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1TC1 16 +34.415 3 8 7 5 Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport Honda Civic WTCCTC1 16 +34.896 4 6 8 18 Tiago Monteiro Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCCTC1 16 +37.918 8 4 9 3 Tom Chilton ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1TC1 16 +41.014 5 2 10 11 James Thompson Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6TTC1 16 +45.739 11 1 11 10 Gianni Morbidelli ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1TC1 16 +48.720 7 12 77 René Münnich ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1TC1 16 +49.234 9 13 25 Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing Honda Civic WTCCTC1 16 +57.136 13 14 98 Dušan Borković Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1TC1 16 +1:02.522 6 15 14 Mikhail Kozlovskiy Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6TTC1 16 +1:05.813 12 16 6 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCTC2T 16 +1:46.587 15 17 8 Pasquale Di Sabatino Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCTC2T 15 +1 lap 16 18 27 John Filippi Campos Racing SEAT León WTCCTC2T 15 +1 lap 14 Bold denotes Fastest lap.
Race 2 Name Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 37 José María López Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCCTC1 18 30:24.551 18 25 2 1 Yvan Muller Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCCTC1 18 +1.886 10 18 3 18 Tiago Monteiro Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCCTC1 18 +7.994 3 15 4 2 Gabriele Tarquini Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCCTC1 18 +8.459 9 12 5 25 Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing Honda Civic WTCCTC1 18 +17.407 1 10 6 9 Sébastien Loeb Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCCTC1 18 +17.924 17 8 7 98 Dušan Borković Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1TC1 18 +18.592 5 6 8 5 Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport Honda Civic WTCCTC1 18 +18.927 7 4 9 10 Gianni Morbidelli ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1TC1 18 +20.531 4 2 10 7 Hugo Valente Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1TC1 18 +21.787 8 1 11 12 Robert Huff Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6TTC1 18 +22.216 11 12 77 René Münnich ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1TC1 18 +23.391 2 13 11 James Thompson Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6TTC1 18 +25.800 12 14 14 Mikhail Kozlovskiy Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1.6TTC1 18 +26.475 13 15 3 Tom Chilton ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1TC1 18 +41.250 6 16 6 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCTC2T 18 +44.222 15 17 8 Pasquale Di Sabatino Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCTC2T 18 +46.048 16 Ret 27 John Filippi Campos Racing SEAT León WTCCTC2T 9 Race incident 14 Bold denotes Fastest lap.
Standings after the event
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 José María López 85 2 Sébastien Loeb 73 2 3 Yvan Muller 65 4 Gabriele Tarquini 31 1 5 Hugo Valente 31
Yokohama Trophy standings Pos Driver Points 1 Franz Engstler 45 2 Pasquale Di Sabatino 30 3 John Filippi 21
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Citroën186 2 Honda103 3 Lada 75
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of drivers' standings.
References
External links World Touring Car Championship official website