Citroën Racing enjoyed a double victory in the World Touring Car Championship at the Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo in Argentina thanks to José María López, with Team Principal Yves Matton describing the weekend as ‘one of the most emotional in the history of Citroën Racing’.
López’s weekend was nothing other than perfect on home soil, with the championship leader scoring pole position, two fastest laps and two victories at his home circuit.
The Argentine remained humble after his most successful weekend of the season, thanking his family, friends and team for their support.
“Some people may find it a bit too corporate to start by thanking everyone, but that’s just what I feel like doing right now,” said an emotional López. “Without my family and without Citroën, I wouldn’t be here. I am proud to be part of Citroën Racing, and to have Yvan [Muller] and Séb [Loeb] as teammates.
“My wealth of experience on this circuit helped me a lot, but I was worried about the starts, which remain a weakness for me. Thankfully, this time, everything went OK!”
López went on to carve his way through the field from tenth on the grid in the second race of the day and extended his championship lead to 60 points over team-mate Muller.
“Race 2 was really exciting,” continued López. “The car just got quicker and quicker and I managed to work my way up the field into first place.
“It’s been a perfect weekend, and there’s no place I’d rather have produced a performance like that.”
Matton admitted that the weekend had been an emotional one for the French team, who spent additional time in South America carrying out promotional activities around the race weekend.
“This weekend has been one of the most emotional in the history of Citroën Racing,” said Matton. “He might not have shown it much, but Pechito [López] was under enormous pressure; he was desperate to do well in front of his home crowd. He dug deep and became the first driver this year to record a perfect score.
“Yvan did everything he could to stay with him, but the gap in the World Championship standings is widening. That is not to say the rest of the season won’t be interesting, however, as there are new circuits for us to discover.
“This has been a great day to round off a week spent with Citroën Argentina, engaging in various marketing operations that used motorsport to further the brand’s commercial aims.”