Argentine racer Jose Maria Lopez won the second sprint on the World Touring Car Championship race weekend at the Termas de Río Hondo circuit in his home country. It was the first time in the history of WTCC that a driver won on his first weekend in the series.
Lopez, who drove a Weichers BMW 320 TC, started from the pole in race two by virtue of his tenth-place finish in qualifying; in WTCC the top ten qualifying positions are reversed for the second race. He led the entire sprint. Honda racer Gabriele Tarquini and Chevrolet’s Pepe Oriola rounded out the podium, while BMW racers Tom Coronel and Stefano D’Aste finished ninth and tenth.
Lopez moved up from his tenth place starting position in race one to finish fifth. Series points leader Yvan Muller won the race, leading an all-Chevrolet podium with Oriola second and Tom Chilton third.
The series returns to the USA to run at Sonoma Raceway on September 7-8.—Brian S. Morgan
