Citroën Team Principal Yves Matton says the manufacturer “couldn’t have dreamed of a better result” in qualifying for the season opening World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) meeting in Argentina, where its drivers secured the top four places on the grid.
Reigning champion José María ‘Pechito’ López was the fastest of all in the all-important Q3, going more than a second faster than his next nearest rival Yvan Muller. Former rally star Sébastien Loeb was third, ahead of the team’s fourth full-time works driver Ma Qing Hua.
“We couldn’t have dreamed of a better result to start the season!,” explained Team Principal Yves Matton. “It’s a great reward for the team to see their four cars in the top four places. It suggests that we took the right decisions this winter, and that we have a good chance of carrying on where we left off in 2014.
“Pechito produced one of those perfect laps that only he can produce, and he showed that he is determined to defend his title! We have smiles on our faces, but we’re keeping our feet on the ground. There are still two races to run. The conditions will be tough, particularly for the drivers and for the tyres.”
López got his season off to the perfect start on home soil at Termas de Río Hondo, taking a comfortable pole position at the circuit where he achieved a ‘clean sweep’ of pole position, two wins and two fastest laps in 2014.
“Who wouldn’t be happy to start the season like that?!” said López. “It wasn’t easy, and we have worked hard on the setup of the cars since Friday morning. Special thanks go to my engineer, who was very quick to react to the changes in the track.
“We’ll have to start all over tomorrow to get the best possible result. Of course it would be special to win. There’s nothing quite like winning on your home patch… In any case, I feel under a lot less pressure than last year.”
A somewhat disappointed Muller admits that he struggled to find the optimum set-up in qualifying, having been the slowest Citroën in the first segment of qualifying.
“I have mixed feelings about my second place,” said the Frenchman, who was 1.240 seconds slower than López. “I’m satisfied insofar as I was 9th in Q1. I wasn’t happy with the way the car was handling, though, and we had a few problems finding the right balance. Second is good, but first is better!
“To come out on top tomorrow, I’ll have to get a better start than Pechito and then make sure I keep him behind me. Believe me, that’s no easy task.”
The team’s other two drivers both made mistakes on their only laps in Q3, with Loeb and Ma running wide at Turn 11 and Turn 5 respectively, leaving them 1.6 and 1.7 seconds off the pace.
“I wanted to challenge for pole position and I attacked hard in Q3,” explained Loeb. “Unfortunately, I lost control of my rear wheels on the fastest bend on the circuit and ran onto the grass. Oh well, I had to try!”
Ma remains positive with his performance, having earlier been the fastest of all drivers in Q2 with a lap marginally faster than López.
“Q1 and Q2 went according to plan and we made regular improvements,” said the Chinese racer. “I was hoping to do better in Q3, but I made a little mistake on bend n°5. Anyway, it’s not a bad start to the season. I’m up with the pace and I feel really confident with my car. The races are bound to be eventful. There are lots of overtaking opportunities here!”
Round 1 and 2 of the season take place at 15:00 and 16:00 ART (18:00 and 19:00 GMT, 19:00 and 20:00 CET) respectively.