Citroën’s José María López held on to win a thrilling main World Touring Car Championship race in France, after Honda’s Tiago Monteiro closed the gap to the reigning champion in the latter stages of the race.
A thrilling race saw López lead from the start, whilst his team-mate Yvan Muller moved from third to second as the lights went out.
The Frenchman kept his Citroën team-mate honest during the opening laps of the race, until Monteiro muscled his Honda inside at the final corner on lap eight, which also allowed the second works car of Norbert Michelisz to follow past.
Thereafter Monteiro set about reducing the 3-second gap to López, which he did by using his cars 80 kg weight break compared to the Citroën.
Ultimately Monteiro simply did not have enough time, getting close to López on the last lap but being unable to find a way past.
Michelisz finished in third behind his team-mate, taking a double podium finish on his first weekend as a Honda driver – and his first double podium in a race weekend since Sonoma in 2012.
Muller held on to finish in fourth, ahead of LADA’s Nicky Catsburg in fifth.
Race one winner Rob Huff was sixth after an incredible fightback drive following a turn one incident. Heading into the first corner LADA’s Gabriele Tarquini hit team-mate Hugo Valente into Huff, an incident which later got the Italian a drive-through penalty, dropping the Brit to the back of the pack.
Huff fought all race-long to get back into the points and ensure he leaves Le Castellet third in the championship standings.
“It was fantastic – that was a real race and what I love about touring cars,” said a buzzing Huff after the race.” It was a great result and I’m hopefully still near the front of the championship.”
LADA’s Valente was seventh, losing out to Huff at the final corner on the penultimate lap, ahead of Sébastien Loeb Racing duo Mehdi Bennani and Tom Chilton in eighth and ninth.
Polestar Cyan Racing’s Fredrik Ekblom completed the top ten for Volvo on their début weekend, although it was a less positive race for the Swedes as Thed Björk retired from the race after two laps with mechanical issues on his S60.
ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Coronel finished just outside the points in 11th, despite starting the race in fourth, the Dutchman slipping back steadily.
The result means López leads the championship after the first weekend of racing, although only by four points from Monteiro.
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 37 | José María LÓPEZ |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 17 | 17 LAPS | 1:30.796 | 1 | |
| 2 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 17 | 0.284 | 1:30.775 | 2 | |
| 3 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 17 | 3.111 | 1:30.788 | 6 | |
| 4 | 68 | Yvan MULLER |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 17 | 8.652 | 1:30.762 | 3 | |
| 5 | 10 | Nicky CATSBURG |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 17 | 9.814 | 1:30.843 | 5 | |
| 6 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 17 | 19.934 | 1:31.120 | 9 | |
| 7 | 7 | Hugo VALENTE | |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 17 | 21.792 | 1:31.464 | 10 | |
| 8 | 25 | Y | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 17 | 22.13 | 1:31.513 | 7 |
| 9 | 3 | Y | Tom CHILTON | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 17 | 22.389 | 1:31.575 | 12 |
| 10 | 61 | Fredrik EKBLOM |  |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 17 | 27.554 | 1:31.703 | 8 | |
| 11 | 9 | Y | Tom CORONEL | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 17 | 32.142 | 1:31.771 | 4 |
| 12 | 27 | Y | John FILIPPI | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 17 | 32.166 | 1:32.052 | 14 |
| 13 | 11 | Y | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 17 | 35.629 | 1:31.939 | 13 |
| R | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 9 | 8 Lp. | 1:31.822 | 11 | |
| R | 77 | Y | René MÜNNICH |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 5 | 12 Lp. | 1:32.863 | 15 |
| R | 62 | Thed BJÖRK | |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 2 | 15 Lp. | 1:32.174 | 16 |