Yvan Muller gifted win as José María López takes title

Yvan Muller took his first win of the season in the Main World Touring Car Championship race in Japan, after being gifted the win by Citroën team-mate and new provisional champion José María López.

López controlled and dominated much of the race, until two laps from the end when he allowed team-mate Muller to pass as his world title was already secured.

López leaves Japan with a 120-point advantage over Muller, who moves into joint second with only 110 points available from the remaining races, with the event in Thailand set to be cancelled.

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Honda’s Tiago Monteiro completed the podium in third and remains in a fierce battle with Muller for the runners-up spot, having got past Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Mehdi Bennani for the position on the opening lap.

Bennani took fourth, whilst Polestar Cyan Racing’s Néstor Girolami took his best-ever WTCC result in fifth, having battled past Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Tom Chilton for the position on lap five.

His team-mate Thed Björk tried to do the same but to no avail, leaving Chilton in sixth and Björk in seventh.

Honda duo Norbert Michelisz and Rob Huff finished in eighth and ninth respectively after making little progress from the back of the top ten, whilst LADA’s Gabriele Tarquini took the final point for tenth.

LADA’s Nicky Catsburg and Münnich Motorsport’s James Thompson spent much of the race squabbling for position, but neither driver secured a point as they finished in 11^th and 12^th.

Tom Coronel, who calls Japan his ‘second home’ finished down in 14^th position, the ROAL Motorsport driver failing to make much progress in a stagnant race from the back of the grid.

Whilst there is no official confirmation about whether the Thailand event has been cancelled, López heads into the remainder of the season with a 120-point lead in the drivers’ championship. If the Thai event were to go ahead, 165 points would be on offer, but the announcement from the championship organisers alluded to no potential replacement and that López is the provisional 2016 champion.

Race result

POS	NO	CL	DRIVER	NAT	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME/GAP	BEST	GD
1	68		Yvan MULLER		Citroën Total WTCC	Citroën C-Elysée WTCC	14	14 LAPS	1:58.568	2
2	37		José María LÓPEZ		Citroën Total WTCC	Citroën C-Elysée WTCC	14	1.045	1:58.061	1
3	18		Tiago MONTEIRO		Honda Racing Team JAS	Honda Civic WTCC	14	2.561	1:58.788	4
4	25	T	Mehdi BENNANI		Sébastien Loeb Racing	Citroën C-Elysée WTCC	14	3.28	1:58.404	3
5	81		Néstor GIROLAMI		Polestar Cyan Racing	Volvo S60 WTCC	14	5.204	1:59.326	6
6	3	T	Tom CHILTON		Sébastien Loeb Racing	Citroën C-Elysée WTCC	14	7.638	1:59.522	5
7	62		Thed BJÖRK		Polestar Cyan Racing	Volvo S60 WTCC	14	9.159	1:59.442	8
8	5		Norbert MICHELISZ		Honda Racing Team JAS	Honda Civic WTCC	14	12.094	1:59.843	10
9	12		Rob HUFF		Honda Racing Team JAS	Honda Civic WTCC	14	15.769	2:00.010	9
10	2		Gabriele TARQUINI		LADA Sport Rosneft	LADA Vesta WTCC	14	16.746	1:59.545	14
11	10		Nicky CATSBURG		LADA Sport Rosneft	LADA Vesta WTCC	14	17.812	1:59.839	7
12	15	T	James THOMPSON		ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1	14	28.185	1:59.958	11
13	7		Hugo VALENTE		LADA Sport Rosneft	LADA Vesta WTCC	14	30.215	2:01.013	13
14	9	T	Tom CORONEL		ROAL Motorsport	Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1	14	31.351	2:00.982	19
15	11	T	Grégoire DEMOUSTIER		Sébastien Loeb Racing	Citroën C-Elysée WTCC	14	31.95	2:00.613	12
16	27	T	John FILIPPI		Campos Racing	Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1	14	34.863	2:00.963	16
17	34		Ryo MICHIGAMI		Honda Racing Team JAS	Honda Civic WTCC	14	39.613	2:01.002	15
18	55	T	Ferenc FICZA		Zengő Motorsport	Honda Civic WTCC	14	40.074	2:01.173	17
19	99	T	Dániel NAGY		Zengő Motorsport	Honda Civic WTCC	11	3 Lp.	2:00.377	18