A strong start in the opening World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) race in Japan for José María López allowed the Citroën driver to edge out a win ahead of pole man Norbert Michelisz and Honda’s Gabriele Tarquini.
López got off to a stronger start than pole man Michelisz when the lights went out, leading the Honda driver before they even got to turn one. Thereafter the Hungarian was unable to challenge the Argentine driver, who opened up a comfortable three-second margin as the race wore on.
Tarquini took the final podium position, having got a strong start to move from sixth on the grid to third after the first three corners. Although the Italian posted the fastest lap of the race, he was unable to mount a significant challenge after the opening lap on Michelisz.
Citroën’s Ma Qing Hua was fourth after a race-long battle with team-mates Yvan Muller and Sébastien Loeb. Ma had been running behind Muller early on, who had got the jump on both team-mates at the start when Loeb got off line in the first few corners and dropped down the order. The Chinese driver passed Muller on lap nine with a daring late-braking manoeuvre into turn five, leaving the former champion to settle for fifth, with Loeb in sixth.
Mehdi Bennani finished in seventh for Sébastien Loeb Racing after a quiet race, with the Moroccan driver having lost out to the works cars at the start of the race.
LADA’s Rob Huff finished in eighth, holding off Honda’s Tiago Monteiro in ninth, who had fought his way through the field from the back of the grid. The duo were involved in a close battle with Campos Racing’s Hugo Valente for much of the race, with the Chevrolet driver losing out on lap 11 to leave him with the final points position in tenth.
On his WTCC début, Nicolas Lapierre just missed out on the points, finishing 11th after failing to hold back team-mate Huff and the charge of Monteiro.
Both ROAL Motorsport Chevrolets of Tom Coronel and Tom Chilton retired from the race, suffering the same fate of sliding into the turn five gravel with no brakes just one lap apart.
LADA’s Nicky Catsburg also failed to finish the race, having spun by himself on the opening lap whilst running in last position.
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 37 | José María LÓPEZ |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 13 | 25:46.796 | 1:57.437 | 2 | |
| 2 | 5 | Y | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 13 | 3.081 | 1:57.508 | 1 |
| 3 | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda Civic WTCC | 13 | 4.314 | 1:57.136 | 6 | |
| 4 | 33 | MA Qing Hua |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 13 | 10.421 | 1:57.490 | 5 | |
| 5 | 68 | Yvan MULLER |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 13 | 11.812 | 1:57.980 | 7 | |
| 6 | 9 | Sébastien LOEB | |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 13 | 12.108 | 1:57.799 | 3 | |
| 7 | 25 | Y | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 13 | 14.677 | 1:58.441 | 4 |
| 8 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 13 | 22.108 | 1:58.838 | 11 | |
| 9 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda Civic WTCC | 13 | 23.409 | 1:58.605 | 17 | |
| 10 | 7 | Y | Hugo VALENTE | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 13 | 29.352 | 1:58.302 | 8 |
| 11 | 47 | Nicolas LAPIERRE | |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 13 | 29.952 | 1:59.795 | 9 | |
| 12 | 11 | Y | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | |
Craft-Bamboo Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 13 | 32.361 | 1:59.764 | 12 |
| 13 | 27 | Y | John FILIPPI | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 13 | 39.713 | 1:59.953 | 14 |
| 14 | 26 | Y | Stefano D’ASTE | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 13 | 40.919 | 1:59.998 | 15 |
| R | 3 | Y | Tom CHILTON | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 4 | 9 Lp. | 1:58.738 | 10 |
| R | 10 | Nick CATSBURG |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 4 | 9 Lp. | 2:01.233 | 16 | |
| R | 4 | Y | Tom CORONEL | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 3 | 10 Lp. | 1:59.994 | 13 |