2013 FIA WTCC Race of Argentina

2013 FIA WTCC Race of Argentina

Race details
Round 8 of 12 in the 2013 World Touring Car Championship at Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo in Termas de Río Hondo, Argentina.
Date	4 August, 2013
Location	Termas de Río Hondo, Argentina
Course	Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo 4.806 kilometres (2.986 mi)
Race One
Laps 12 Pole position Driver Yvan Muller RML Time 1:47.920 Podium First Yvan Muller RML Second Pepe Oriola Tuenti Racing Team Third Tom Chilton RML Fastest Lap Driver Yvan Muller RML Time 1:50.524
Race Two
Laps 11 Podium First José María López Wiechers-Sport Second Gabriele Tarquini Castrol Honda Team Third Pepe Oriola Tuenti Racing Team Fastest Lap Driver Yvan Muller RML Time 1:50.248

The 2013 FIA WTCC Race of Argentina was the eighth round of the 2013 World Touring Car Championship season and the maiden running of the FIA WTCC Race of Argentina. It was held on 4 August 2013 at the Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo in Termas de Río Hondo, Santiago del Estero Province, Argentina.

Race one was won by Yvan Muller for RML while race two was won by local driver José María López on his debut weekend in the World Touring Car Championship while driving for Wiechers-Sport.

Background

Muller was leading the drivers' championship by 122 points over Michel Nykjær who was leading the Yokohama Independents' Trophy.

The Honda Civic WTCCs, SEAT León WTCCs and BMW 320 TCs lost all additional ballast when the compensation weights were re-calculated. The Chevrolet Cruzes retained their 40 kg of ballast while the Lada Grantas remained 20 kg below the baseweight.^[1]

José María López joined Wiechers-Sport for the round, substituting for regular driver Fredy Barth.^[2] Following heavy damage sustained in the previous round, Tom Boardman and the Special Tuning Racing team elected to skip the Race of Argentina to repair the car before shipping to the United States.^[3]

Campos Racing's Hugo Valente came to the event with a 10–place grid penalty for race one after ignoring yellow flags in race one in Portugal.^[4]

Report

Testing and free practice

Muller led an RML 1–2 in Friday's test session, López was eleventh quickest in his first WTCC session.^[5]

Muller and teammate Tom Chilton were first and second once again in free practice one, Tiago Monteiro was third for Honda and fourth placed López was the quickest independent driver. The session had been red flagged early on when a technical failure cut off the timing and video systems.^[6]

Chilton led a Chevrolet 1–2–3 in free practice two ahead of Muller and bamboo-engineering's Alex MacDowall. The session was red flagged when René Münnich got his Münnich Motorsport SEAT stuck in a gravel trap. His teammate Robert Huff stopped on the track three minutes from the end as a result of a suspected turbocharger failure.^[7] Münnich Motorsport were forced to change the engine in Huff's car after free practice two, earning the reigning champion a penalty which would see him start at the back of the grid for race one.^[8] Monteiro would also be sent to the back of the grid for race one following an engine change.

Qualifying

Nykjær led the cars out at the start of Q1, Muller then went to the top of the times straight away while MacDowall was the first driver to go off the track. López was running as high as third during the session while for a brief time both Lukoil Lada Sport cars were inside the top twelve before Mikhail Kozlovskiy was bumped down the order by improvements for other drivers, notably James Nash and Marc Basseng. After lengthy repairs, Huff left the pits in time to do one flying lap which was only good enough for 14th, putting him out of qualifying. Valente was the only SEAT driver to get through to Q2 when Basseng was displaced by Nash while López was the only BMW driver to do so. A misunderstanding between the ROAL Motorsport pair of Tom Coronel and Darryl O'Young saw the pair eliminated from qualifying in the first session.

After a short break, Q2 began and Muller went to the top of the times once again. A group of cars formed up for a final flying lap at the end of the session with both Muller and Chilton improving their times; Muller stayed on top while Chilton was second despite an off at the final corner. Pepe Oriola was the other driver to go off on the final tour. López had caught up with the back of the train of cars which was driving slowly around the circuit before going off on a final fast lap but he still finished tenth to secure pole position for race two.^[9]

After qualifying, Muller, Chilton, Nash, MacDowall, Tarquini, Monteiro and Oriola were called to the stewards to explain the slow train of cars at the end of Q2 but no further action was taken.^[10] Kozlovskiy was lost all his lap times for a breach of parc fermé regulations when a laptop was connected to his car.^[11]

Warm-Up

López was quickest in the warm–up session on Sunday morning, edging out the Chevrolet of MacDowall. Huff was third while Kozlovskiy was fourth for Lada.^[12]

Race One

Muller was on pole position for the first race, the first attempt at the rolling start was aborted when second placed Chilton failed to drive through the grid boxes. The race was started when the cars came around again, Chilton ran wide at the first corner and lost places to Nykjær and Oriola. On lap five Chilton reclaimed second place ahead of Oriola. Michelisz lost his front splitter following collisions with Nykjær and Nash which caused the three of them to slow down allowing Tarquini to move past the group into fourth place. López was also able to catch up with them having run in a distant 8th place and he picked them off one–by–one to finish 5th. Oriola passed Chilton at the end of the race to split with RML cars, Muller won by a comfortable margin of 4.9 seconds ahead of Oriola. López in fifth was the Yokohama Trophy winner in his first WTCC race while Huff and Monteiro came through from the back of the grid to score points in 8th and 10th respectively.^[13]

Race Two

López started on pole position for the second race and maintained his first place at the start, at the end of the first lap he had built up a lead of 1.8 seconds ahead of Monteiro. Nykjær separated the Hondas as Tarquini was running fourth, by the end of the second lap Muller had closed in on the trio fighting for second place. Tarquini tried a move on Nykjær at turn thirteen, he ran wide and Nykjær did likewise trying to defend which allowed Muller and Nash through while Tarquini was now battling with Oriola and Michelisz for 6th place. On lap three Nykjær tried to dive up the inside of Nash at turn seven but the pair collided and allowed Tarquini through while MacDowall and Chilton collided further back. Monteiro was running second ahead of Muller on lap five and the pair were closing in on López when Muller ran into the back of him in the braking area for turn five, putting Monteiro off the road and dropping the Honda driver down to ninth once he had recovered to the track. On the same lap Huff was disputing sixth place with Michelisz; there was light contact between the pair before Huff dropped back slightly into Thompson who then bumped the SEAT and broke its front left suspension causing Huff to go off into the gravel. On lap seven Muller was issued with a drive–through penalty for his collision with Monteiro which was served immediately. O'Young and Valente came together on lap nine, they had been contesting eighth place until Valente tapped the back of the ROAL BMW and O'Young spun off the circuit. Thompson had been running behind them but one lap later he slowed down with technical problems. At the end of lap eleven López passed the checkered flag to take his first overall WTCC victory and the first WTCC victory for an Argentine driver, Tarquini and Oriola completed the podium.^[14]

Results

Qualifying

Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Car	C	Q1	Q2	Points
1	12	Yvan Muller	RML	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		1:49.158	1:47.920	5
2	23	Tom Chilton	RML	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		1:49.690	1:48.423	4
3	5	Norbert Michelisz	Zengő Motorsport	Honda Civic WTCC		1:49.247	1:48.855	3
4	3	Gabriele Tarquini	Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team	Honda Civic WTCC		1:49.545	1:48.919	2
5	74	Pepe Oriola	Tuenti Racing Team	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		1:49.762	1:48.979	1
6	9	Alex MacDowall	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	1:50.132	1:49.039
7	18	Tiago Monteiro	Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team	Honda Civic WTCC		1:49.517	1:49.177
8	14	James Nash	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	1:49.938	1:49.236
9	17	Michel Nykjær	NIKA Racing	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	1:49.252	1:49.406
10	72	José María López	Wiechers-Sport	BMW 320 TC	Y	1:49.819	1:49.674
11	20	Hugo Valente	Campos Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	1:50.212	1:50.130
12	10	James Thompson	Lukoil Lada Sport	Lada Granta		1:49.953	1:50.353
13	38	Marc Basseng	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	SEAT León WTCC		1:50.272
14	1	Robert Huff	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	SEAT León WTCC		1:50.314
15	19	Fernando Monje	Campos Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	1:50.583
16	15	Tom Coronel	ROAL Motorsport	BMW 320 TC		1:50.744
17	26	Stefano D'Aste	PB Racing	BMW 320 TC	Y	1:50.788
18	7	Charles Ng	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	BMW 320 TC	Y	1:51.328
19	55	Darryl O'Young	ROAL Motorsport	BMW 320 TC	Y	1:51.345
20	37	René Münnich	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	SEAT León WTCC	Y	1:51.368
21	25	Mehdi Bennani	Proteam Racing	BMW 320 TC	Y	1:51.862
22	6	Franz Engstler	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	BMW 320 TC	Y	1:51.866
107% time: 1:56.799
EX^1	8	Mikhail Kozlovskiy	Lukoil Lada Sport	Lada Granta		Excluded

• Bold denotes Pole position for second race.

^1 Kozlovskiy had all of his times from qualifying deleted after a breach of parc fermé regulations after Q1.^[11]

Race 1

Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Car	C	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	12	Yvan Muller	RML	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		12	22:56.896	1	25
2	74	Pepe Oriola	Tuenti Racing Team	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		12	+4.924	5	18
3	23	Tom Chilton	RML	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		12	+7.813	2	15
4	3	Gabriele Tarquini	Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team	Honda Civic WTCC		12	+7.989	4	12
5	72	José María López	Wiechers-Sport	BMW 320 TC	Y	12	+8.846	9	10
6	17	Michel Nykjær	NIKA Racing	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	12	+10.214	8	8
7	5	Norbert Michelisz	Zengő Motorsport	Honda Civic WTCC		12	+12.833	3	6
8	1	Robert Huff	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	SEAT León WTCC		12	+13.960	23	4
9	14	James Nash	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	12	+14.636	7	2
10	18	Tiago Monteiro	Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team	Honda Civic WTCC		12	+14.870	22	1
11	9	Alex MacDowall	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	12	+15.743	6
12	38	Marc Basseng	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	SEAT León WTCC		12	+16.619	11
13	20	Hugo Valente	Campos Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	12	+17.333	20
14	26	Stefano D'Aste	PB Racing	BMW 320 TC	Y	12	+19.858	14
15	55	Darryl O'Young	ROAL Motorsport	BMW 320 TC	Y	12	+20.247	16
16	19	Fernando Monje	Campos Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	12	+23.563	12
17	7	Charles Ng	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	BMW 320 TC	Y	12	+23.782	15
18	37	René Münnich	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	SEAT León WTCC	Y	12	+30.675	17
19	6	Franz Engstler	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	BMW 320 TC	Y	12	+33.536	19
20	25	Mehdi Bennani	Proteam Racing	BMW 320 TC	Y	12	+36.459	18
Ret	10	James Thompson	Lukoil Lada Sport	Lada Granta		8	Mechanical	10
NC	15	Tom Coronel	ROAL Motorsport	BMW 320 TC		7	+5 Laps	13
Ret	8	Mikhail Kozlovskiy	Lukoil Lada Sport	Lada Granta		2	Suspension	21

• Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Race 2

Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Car	C	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	72	José María López	Wiechers-Sport	BMW 320 TC	Y	11	20:28.525	1	25
2	3	Gabriele Tarquini	Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team	Honda Civic WTCC		11	+3.619	7	18
3	74	Pepe Oriola	Tuenti Racing Team	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		11	+3.989	6	15
4	17	Michel Nykjær	NIKA Racing	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	11	+4.945	2	12
5	5	Norbert Michelisz	Zengő Motorsport	Honda Civic WTCC		11	+7.135	8	10
6	18	Tiago Monteiro	Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team	Honda Civic WTCC		11	+7.517	4	8
7	14	James Nash	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	11	+13.866	3	6
8	20	Hugo Valente	Campos Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	11	+16.422	11	4
9	15	Tom Coronel	ROAL Motorsport	BMW 320 TC		11	+16.767	16	2
10	26	Stefano D'Aste	PB Racing	BMW 320 TC	Y	11	+18.320	17	1
11	9	Alex MacDowall	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	11	+19.073	5
12	23	Tom Chilton	RML	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		11	+19.634	9
13	12	Yvan Muller	RML	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		11	+20.232	10
14	19	Fernando Monje	Campos Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	11	+23.092	15
15	6	Franz Engstler	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	BMW 320 TC	Y	11	+23.515	21
16	8	Mikhail Kozlovskiy	Lukoil Lada Sport	Lada Granta		11	+26.544	23
17	37	René Münnich	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	SEAT León WTCC	Y	11	+27.050	22
18	55	Darryl O'Young	ROAL Motorsport	BMW 320 TC	Y	11	+36.055	19
19	7	Charles Ng	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	BMW 320 TC	Y	11	+36.476	18
20	10	James Thompson	Lukoil Lada Sport	Lada Granta		10	+1 Lap	12
21	25	Mehdi Bennani	Proteam Racing	BMW 320 TC	Y	8	+3 Laps	20
Ret	38	Marc Basseng	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	SEAT León WTCC		7	Race incident	13
Ret	1	Robert Huff	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	SEAT León WTCC		4	Race incident	14

• Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Standings after the event

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Yvan Muller 312 2 Michel Nykjær 180 2 3 Gabriele Tarquini 166 1 4 James Nash 146 1 5 Robert Huff 139

Yokohama Independents' Trophy standings Pos Driver Points 1 Michel Nykjær 129 2 James Nash 120 3 Alex MacDowall 88 4 Mehdi Bennani 60 5 Stefano D'Aste 58

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Honda 661 2 Lada 398

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of drivers' standings.

References

1. "Honda, BMW and Seat lose more weight for Argentinian races". automobilsport. automobilsport.com. 6 July 2013. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
2. ""PECHITO" LÓPEZ IN HOME RACE". World Touring Car Championship. Kigema Sport Organisation. 26 July 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-12-04. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
3. Bailey, Richard (2 July 2013). "WTCC: Boardman MIA for Argentina round". Richard's F1. RichardsF1.com. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
4. "WTCC - Four drivers penalized after Race 1". Nextgen-Auto. Nextgen-Auto. 30 June 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
5. "Yvan Muller heads Chevrolet 1-2 in first Argentina test". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. 2 August 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
6. Hudson, Neil (3 August 2013). "Yvan Muller leads RML 1-2 Termas de Río Hondo first practice". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
7. "PRACTICE 2: MULLER AND CHILTON SWAP PLACES". World Touring Car Championship. Kigema Sport Organisation. 3 August 2013. Archived from the original on 3 August 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
8. Hudson, Neil (3 August 2013). "Rob Huff receives engine change penalty in Argentina". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
9. Abbott, Andrew (3 August 2013). "Muller dominates Argentina qualifying". Touring-Cars.net. Andrew Abbott. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
10. "INQUIRY ENDS IN NO FURTHER ACTION". World Touring Car Championship. Kigema Sport Organisation. 4 August 2013. Archived from the original on 4 August 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
11. Hudson, Neil (3 August 2013). "Mikhail Kozlovsky penalised for parc fermé breach". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
12. "LOCAL HERO LÓPEZ IS FASTEST IN WARM-UP". World Touring Car Championship. Kigema Sport Organisation. 4 August 2013. Archived from the original on 4 August 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
13. Hudson, Neil (4 August 2013). "Yvan Muller wins race one in Argentina ahead of Oriola". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
14. "RACE 2 – LÓPEZ MAKES HISTORY". World Touring Car Championship. Kigema Sport Organisation. 4 August 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-08-19. Retrieved 4 August 2013.

External links

• World Touring Car Championship official website

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