Citroën’s José María López has conceded that he and his Citroën team were ‘not the quickest’ so far in the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) at the Twin Ring Motegi, after he was beaten to pole position on Saturday.
López put his car in second on the grid for the first race in Japan, being beaten to pole position by the independent Honda of Norbert Michelisz.
Despite being beaten, resulting in the first non-Citroën pole position of the season, López insisted that nothing was wrong with either himself or his car.
“Nothing was wrong,” insisted López. “Norbi [Michelisz] being on pole doesn’t mean it’s wrong. We were not the quickest here and we know that. It was difficult and we have to work.
“For Norbi I am so happy for him. First of all he’s a great person, which is the most important thing. Secondly he is a great driver because it was all up to him. For sure the Honda improved but he is the one driving the car so congratulations to him and all the Zengő team.”
López had earlier on in the weekend failed to find the pace, being more than half a second slower than the works Honda of Gabriele Tarquini in testing before going over a second slower in both practice sessions.
“From my side and the team’s side we are happy,” added the championship leader. “We knew it was going to be very difficult, so I think we overcame it. It was a little more than what we expected because we were a little afraid after the first practice, including myself.
“When I put the new tyres on in qualifying everything changed. I came back with confidence and I thought that in the end, for me, personally speaking it’s like a pole because I am in front of my team-mates and for the fight for the championship it’s important.
“It certainly wasn’t an easy ride, though; I had brake issues all morning. The team put in a lot of work and we managed to solve those problems in time for qualifying. I think the races are going to be interesting.”