Shanghai WTCC: Lopez wins as Bennani secures independents' title

Lopez’s main challenge was expected to come from the ballast-free Lada Vesta of Nicky Catsburg, which started alongside him on the front row.

The Dutchman’s car was hastily repaired after damage in the first race from debris after the Volvo of Thed Bjork and Honda of Norbert Michelisz collided in front of him, but a sluggish start saw him drop behind the two Citroens of Muller and Bennani.

The main mover in the race was Honda’s Tiago Monteiro, who made a great start from 13th on the grid and was up to ninth by the end of the first lap.

The Portuguese driver, who lost ground to Muller this weekend in his fight for second in the drivers’ championship, was able to make one more pass in the race, grabbing eighth from Tom Chilton’s Citroen on lap three, but was unable to close in on the lighter Ladas and Volvos ahead of him.

Race one winner Bjork swapped positions with teammate Fredrik Ekblom for sixth on lap five, but with Bjork unable to take the fight to the two Ladas which were running on equal weight to his S60, swapped the position back at the end of the race.

Unlike the action-packed first race, that was the extent of the shuffling around in race two as Lopez built a comfortable lead over Muller and Bennani, with the Ladas of Catsburg and Gabriele Tarquini keeping a watching brief behind them.

Lopez won the race by 11.037s ahead of Muller, with Bennani two seconds adrift and taking the win in the independents’ category.

With Bennani outscoring teammate and title rival Chilton in the race, the Moroccan seals the final title up for grabs this season, the independents’ trophy, with all titles now decided ahead of the season finale.

Catsburg and Valente finished behind the three Citroens, with the two Polestar Cyan Racing Volvos in tow.

Monteiro was the only Honda to score in the main race in a circuit which didn’t suit the Japanese cars, with the two privateer Toms, Chilton and Coronel completing the top ten.

Main race results:

Pos	Driver	Car	Laps	Time	Points
1	Jose Maria Lopez	Citroën	15	-	25
2	Yvan Muller	Citroën	15	11.037	18
3	Mehdi Bennani	Citroën	15	12.742	15
4	Nicky Catsburg	LADA	15	13.205	12
5	Gabriele Tarquini	LADA	15	15.715	10
6	Fredrik Ekblom	Volvo	15	18.176	8
7	Thed Björk	Volvo	15	18.516	6
8	Tiago Monteiro	Honda	15	23.878	4
9	Tom Chilton	Citroën	15	24.700	2
10	Tom Coronel	Chevrolet	15	26.509	1
11	Norbert Michelisz	Honda	15	30.202
12	Hugo Valente	LADA	15	34.387
13	Rob Huff	Honda	15	36.452
14	James Thompson	Chevrolet	15	42.431
15	John Filippi	Chevrolet	15	51.238
16	Ferenc Ficza	Honda	15	57.430
17	Grégoire Demoustier	Citroën	15	58.850
18	Daniel Nagy	Honda	15	58.880