WTCC MOTEGI: VICTORY FOR SÉBASTIEN LOEB RACING !

Tightrope-walking skills are necessary to make an impression on a Japanese circuit in typhoon season. This proves the level of the performance signed by Sébastien Loeb Racing and Tom Chilton in this eighth World Touring Car Championship event. The British driver, starting from the front line of the Opening Race, flew off the blocks perfectly in spite of the difficult weather, and was leading the race by the first turn. Implacable, he went on to win by a margin of more than thirteen seconds, for his second win of the season, and the fourth for the whole Soultz-sous-Forêts team. The performance also earned him the prize rewarding the best lap. The points garnered in the second race, fishtail notwithstanding, confirmed his solid hold on the WTCC Trophy. Mehdi Bennani, his teammate in the Alsatian group, had also been on the WTCC Trophy podium in the first race, but stepped up further in the second race to be the fastest in the Drivers’ category. After a disappointing weekend in China, the Moroccan driver proved his true return to the championship, in which he closely tails his British teammate. John Filippi’s performance completed the ‘ensemble cast’ result for Sébastien Loeb Racing, his notable regularity earning him the sixth and then fourth positions in the WTCC Trophy.

“We’ve had a marvellous weekend, very wet, very cold, but marvellous,” Tom Chilton enthused after the race. “The conditions were less apocalyptic than recently in China, because the twin-ring circuit here in Motegi allows the water to drain a lot better. In this weather, the Sébastien Loeb Racing team and I worked very hard on the set-up, and we really managed to get the most out of it so big thanks to them. In the qualifiers, I had more pace, we could have done better than ninth but I backed off on purpose because I wanted the advantage of the reverse grid to maximise my points in the Championship. In race 1 we were really outstanding, so it’s a shame not to have done better in the second one! It was too wet and I caught a puddle, I was just a passenger in the aquaplaning and there was nothing I could do. Other than that one little blip, I’m very happy with myself and the team’s performance!”

“I have to say I’m a touch frustrated,” admitted John Filippi. “I missed out on the Q2 for four tenth in the heats. In the first race, due to slightly low pressure in the tires and a lack of aggression on my part, I didn’t manage to do better than twelfth. However I was about to do good in the second race, I’d started inching back by overtaking two of my competitors after mistakes of theirs, so I was in the ninth place and about to catch up on two more drivers when the race was cancelled for security reasons… We’d already raced in worse conditions in my opinion, but that’s sports, and what I’ll remember is my strong progress thanks to the Sébastien Loeb Racing team.”

“I’m really happy to be back on track with results that reflect my true level,” Mehdi Bennani rejoiced. “The weekend started well with a seventh place in the heats, which meant a first position in WTCC Trophy. Then the WTCC Trophy podium in the first race was a good sign for the main race, in which I managed to be on top in spite of poor grip conditions. I need to thank the team, who once again entrusted me with a perfectly tuned Citroën C-Elysée. The battle for the WTCC Trophy title is going to be tight, and I’m not going to give an inch!”

“In Ningbo, China, we’d already proved that we know how to adapt to particularly wet tracks,” analysed Dominique Heintz, co-founder of the team with Sébastien Loeb. “We confirmed that today in Japan. It’s a great joy for all of us to be so successful, a fourth win this season that rewards the efforts we make every day. It also proves that we firmly intend to keep our WTCC Trophy titles, for the drivers as well as for the team!”

The next date for the Sébastien Loeb Racing trio will be the mythical Macau WTCC race on 16th-17th of November. They will be joined on that occasion by Chinese driver Ma Qing Hua, who knows the team well for having been a part of it in 2014 and 2015.
RESULTS:

Race 1. T. Chilton (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC) (1er WTCC Trophy), 2. Y. Ehrlacher, 3. E. Guerrieri, … 5. M. Bennani (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC) (3e WTCC Trophy)… 12. J. Filippi (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC) (6e WTCC Trophy), etc.

Race 2. 1. N. Michelisz, 2. N. Catsburg, 3. N. Girolami, 4. E. Guerrieri, 5. T. Björk, 6. M. Bennani (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC) (1er WTCC Trophy), … 9. J. Filippi (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC) (4e WTCC Trophy), 10. T. Chilton (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC) (5e WTCC Trophy), etc.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Drivers’ Championship: 1. T. Björk 228,5 pts, 2. N. Michelisz 212 pts, 3. N. Catsburg 209,5 pts … 5. T. Chilton 184,5 pts, 6. M. Bennani 184 pts … 12. J. Filippi 34 pts, etc.

WTCC Drivers’ Trophy: 1. T. Chilton 107 pts, 2. M. Bennani 104,5 pts, 3. R. Huff 95 pts, … 6. J. Filippi 48 pts, etc.

WTCC Teams Trophy: 1. Sébastien Loeb Racing 139 pts, 2. Campos Racing 96 pts, 3. Münnich Motorsport 96 pts.