Citroën’s José María López admits that he is “surprised” with how well he has taken to the Slovakiaring circuit, after taking his second World Touring Car Championship pole at the circuit.
The Argentine driver has been at the top of the timesheets ever since arriving at the circuit, topping first Friday’s test session, followed by first practice, second practice and qualifying. López puts his performances down to good preparation, his team and simulation work in advance of the weekend.
“To be honest, as in Hungary, I was a little bit surprised [to be fastest] because even if I don’t know the track I feel like I can arrive and deliver quite quickly,” said López to TouringCars.Net. “I think it’s because today with simulators, with the information you have, you can prepare much better for the races. It’s all about your preparation before the race – we are putting quite a lot of emphasis on this.
“With the team-mates I have you learn from them as well. The team are progressing a lot because we’re fighting each other as well; we’re progressing and the car is getting better.”
López will start Sunday’s first race from the left-hand side of the grid and as a result feels it will be particularly important to make a strong start, with the 31-year-old’s two team-mates Yvan Muller and Sébastien Loeb directly behind on the grid.
“It’s difficult to start because here we have to start on the left side, which is quite difficult,” added López. “If you don’t move quickly enough then your team-mate, in this case, can take the position.
“The start is always a difficult moment – if I lose a position then I know Yvan is difficult to pass. This is racing – sometimes you get it right, sometimes you get it wrong. So I hope to get a good start and keep scoring championship points.”
With heavy rain forecast for race day at the Slovakiaring, López admits that he is not fazed by the prospect of a wet race.
“[Wet weather] could favour me, it could not,” added the Argentine. “When you’re starting from pole you hope it’s a dry race, but after many years in this sport you learn that whatever the weather is you need to go and deliver. I would prefer if [we could use] slicks. If it rains it’s OK.”
Citroën’s rivals have again closed the gap to the marque at this weekend’s event, with Zengo Motorsport’s Norbert Michelisz emerging as the closest contender to the French cars. López admits that this is to be expected, with gains harder to find on the extensively-tested Citroën cars.
“We expect this – they are getting better every race,” added López. “We tested a lot, so we have a limit on the car which is difficult to cross. The other cars are maybe a bit further from us so they have a bigger margin to improve every race.
“Of course at one point they will also struggle a bit to improve but for the moment we always suspected that every race they’re going to get better. It’s a new championship – it’s normal that sometimes a team understands the situation better and makes different [decisions].”