Citroën’s José María López says that his car was ‘perfect’ in qualifying for the World Touring Car Championship races in Argentina, after the points leader took his fourth pole of the season on Saturday.
López was the fastest Citroën driver throughout qualifying, seeing him continue a run of form that had seen him top both Friday testing and Saturday’s first practice, before team-mate Yvan Muller pipped him in second practice.
The battle for pole position had looked like it could be a close-run affair, until the Argentine superstar put in a superb final sector effort on his Q3 run that saw him take pole by more than four tenths of a second from Muller.
“If there is one race you really want to do well in, it’s your home meeting, but to achieve that, you’ve got to work really hard to push yourself to your limits,” explained a humble López after taking pole. “Along with my teammates and my engineers, I managed to get better session after session and lap after lap.
“Even though I’d been the fastest driver up to that point, I didn’t know what to expect in Q3. We’ve often seen things change drastically at that stage, as happened at Spa-Francorchamps!
“My Citroën C-Elysée WTCC was perfect and I gave it my all, drawing on all my experience of this track. It was a great moment when I was told I’d won pole position. It was really emotional getting a result like that, especially with my family watching. Tomorrow is another day, though, and I’ll have to continue to improve to win.”
Yves Matton, Citroën Racing Team Principal, praised the performance of ‘Pechito’ López on his home turf, given the extra pressure that he invariably faces when racing in Argentina.
“It’s never easy racing at home; the expectations of the public and the media inevitably create extra pressure. And nowhere is that truer than in Argentina!” said Matton. “Pechito has had a great weekend so far and he has been rewarded with pole position.
“Yvan and Sébastien [Loeb] are very close in terms of performance levels, but they weren’t able to produce a flawless lap in Q3. Nevertheless, the races are sure to be exciting!”
Click here to view the full qualifying result.
Round 15 takes place at 18:15 BST on Sunday (19:15 CEST; 14:15 ART).