José María López took his second win of the season in a lively Race 2 at the Paul Ricard, marked by two safety-car periods.
The Argentine preceded his team mate Yvan Muller, winner of Race 1, in another 1-2 win for Citroën after the C-Elysées bent the resilience of the Honda of Tiago Monteiro, who led for most of the race. The Portuguese offered to Honda its second consecutive podium finish.
Tarquini, Bennani and Loeb completed the top 6. The Frenchman had a more difficult Race 2 after an early contact with Muller and hitting the chicane tires later on.
Franz Engstler won again the TC2 race despite being hit by Filippi at mid-race.
Key moments
Start – Monteiro takes a great start and takes the lead ahead of Bennani, Münnich, Tarquini and Borković.
Lap 1 – Chilton pushes Morbidelli into a spin and Muller is also involved.
Lap 2 – Chilton is passed by López and Muller who slams the door on Loeb; the two tangle.
Lap 4 – Valente fights with Chilton and Michelisz for tenth
Lap 5 – Monteiro leads from Tarquini who has passed Bennani.
Lap 6 – López and Muller pass Tarquini after a small mistake of the Italian.
Lap 7 – Loeb hits the tire pile at the chicane, prompting the exit of the safety-car.
Lap 8 – Chilton is given a drive-through for the incident at the start.
Lap 9 – At the restart, Monteiro keeps the advantage on López and Muller; but it’s safety-car again, as Filippi T-bones Engstler at turn 1.
Lap 14 – The race restarts and López and Muller outpower Monteiro; Borković and Loeb pass Valente
Lap 16 – Loeb moves up to fifth Bennani ahead of Borković
Lap 17 - Loeb passes Bennani for fourth
Lap 18 - López wins from Muller; Michelisz and Morbidelli pip Valente and Huff for 8th and 9th
Lap 18 – Engstler retakes TC2T lead from Di Sabatino.
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | José Maria LOPEZ | Citroen C-Elysee WTCC | 18 laps - 30m24.551 |
| 2 | Yvan MULLER | Citroen C-Elysee WTCC | +1.886 |
| 3 | Tiago MONTEIRO | Honda Civic WTCC | +7.994 |
| 4 | Gabriele TARQUINI | Honda Civic WTCC | +8.459 |
| 5 | Mehdi BENNANI | Honda Civic WTCC | +17.407 |
| 6 | Sébastien LOEB | Citroen C-Elysee WTCC | +17.924 |
| 7 | Dusan BORKOVIC | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | +18.592 |
| 8 | Norbert MICHELISZ | Honda Civic WTCC | +18.927 |
| 9 | Gianni MORBIDELLI | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | +20.531 |
| 10 | Hugo VALENTE | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | +21.787 |
| 11 | Rob HUFF | LADA Granta 1.6T | +22.216 |
| 12 | René MUNNICH | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | +23.391 |
| 13 | James THOMPSON | LADA Granta 1.6T | +25.800 |
| 14 | Mikhail KOZLOVSKIY | LADA Granta 1.6T | +26.475 |
| 15 | Tom CHILTON | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | +41.250 |
| 16 | Franz ENGSTLER | BMW E90 320 TC | +44.222 |
| 17 | Pasquale DI SABATINO | BMW E90 320 TC | +46.048 |
| 18 | John FILIPPI | SEAT Leon WTCC | DNF |