2013 FIA WTCC Race of Japan

FIA WTCC Race of Japan Japan 22 September 2013 Suzuka East Circuit.png 10 12 Suzuka City, Japan Suzuka Circuit (East Circuit) 2.243 26 26 HUN Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport 52.886 HUN Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport GBR Alex MacDowall bamboo-engineering FRA Yvan Muller RML HUN Norbert Michelisz 53.887 Zengő Motorsport NLD Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport MAR Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing PRT Tiago Monteiro Castrol Honda Team MAR Mehdi Bennani 54.602 Proteam Racing The 2013 FIA WTCC Race of Japan (formally the 2013 FIA WTCC JVC Kenwood Race of Japan) was the tenth round of the 2013 World Touring Car Championship season and the sixth running of the FIA WTCC Race of Japan. It was held on 22 September 2013 at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka City, Japan. Race one was won by Norbert Michelisz of Zengő Motorsport and race two was won by Tom Coronel of ROAL Motorsport. Yvan Muller secured his fourth World Touring Car Championship Drivers' Championship title by finishing third in race one, he became the first driver to win the title without the support of a manufacturer. Race two was the 200th World Touring Car Championship race to be run since the series began in 2005.Auger Matt Preview: 200 up for WTCC at Suzuka http://www.touringcars.net/2013/09/200-races-up-for-wtcc-at-suzuka Touring-Cars.net Andrew Abbott 20 September 2013 19 September 2013 Background Muller was leading the drivers' championship, he had his second opportunity to secure a fourth world title during the weekend. Michel Nykjær and James Nash were jointly leading the Yokohama Independents' Trophy. Before the start of the season the new Eurosport Asia Trophy was launched for drivers entered on a race–by–race basis for the three Asian rounds at the end of the season, starting in Japan. Points would be awarded to the top eight finishers in class with additional points for any World Championship points scored.EUROSPORT LAUNCHES WTCC ASIA TROPHY http://www.fiawtcc.com/news/detail/id/605 World Touring Car Championship Kigema Sport Organisation 20 September 2013 25 January 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055331/http://www.fiawtcc.com/news/detail/id/605 2013-09-21 dead The Chevrolet Cruze 1.6Ts continue to be the benchmark cars, retaining their 40 kg maximum ballast to set them at 1,190 kg. The Honda Civic WTCCs gained 10 kg after their strong showing in the United States to take them up to 1,170 kg. The Honda of Takuya Izawa was set at the base weight of 1,150 kg on its first appearance of the season, this was the test car previous used by Tiago Monteiro in 2012 which was homologated under 2012 Scandinavian Touring Car Championship regulations. Both the SEAT León WTCCs and BMW 320 TCs dropped to the minimum weight of 1,130 kg, the same as the Lada Granta WTCCs. The Chevrolet Cruze LTs and the BMW 320sis making their first appearances of the season started on the base weight of 1,150 kg.Hudson Neil New cars in Japan to run at base weight on first appearance http://www.touringcartimes.com/2013/09/13/new-cars-in-japan-to-run-at-base-weight-on-first-appearance/ TouringCarTimes Mediaempire Stockholm AB 19 September 2013 13 September 2013 The Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team added a third car for local driver Takuya Izawa.Izawa to race for Honda at Suzuka http://www.fiawtcc.com/news/detail/id/1259/t/IZAWA-TO-RACE-FOR-HONDA-AT-SUZUKA World Touring Car Championship Kigema Sport Organisation 2 August 2013 19 September 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130921060704/http://www.fiawtcc.com/news/detail/id/1259/t/IZAWA-TO-RACE-FOR-HONDA-AT-SUZUKA 2013-09-21 dead Franz Engstler was unable to take part in the event due to illness, his replacement was local racer Masaki Kano. This ended Engstler's run of 138 consecutive race entries.Abbott Andrew Unwell Engstler replaced by Kano http://www.touringcars.net/2013/09/unwell-engstler-replaced-by-kano Touring-Cars.net Andrew Abbott 19 September 2013 19 September 2013 Liqui Moly Team Engstler entered a naturally aspirated BMW 320si for Macanese driver Henry Ho.http://www.fiawtcc.com/news/detail/id/1456/t/BMW-CARS-FOR-HENRY-HO-AND-MAK-KA-LOK BMW CARS FOR HENRY HO AND MAK KA LOK World Touring Car Championship Kigema Sport Organisation 19 September 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130921060553/http://www.fiawtcc.com/news/detail/id/1456/t/BMW-CARS-FOR-HENRY-HO-AND-MAK-KA-LOK 2013-09-21 dead In the week leading up to the race, Yokohama Trophy joint leader Michel Nykjær lost his drive at NIKA Racing due to financial issues,Michel Nykjær out of Nika Racing http://www.touringcartimes.com/2013/09/18/michel-nykjaer-out-of-nika-racing/ TouringCarTimes Mediaempire Stockholm AB 19 September 2013 18 September 2013 his replacement was Hiroki Yoshimoto.Tremayne Sam Hiroki Yoshimoto takes Michel Nykjaer's World Touring Car seat http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/109951 Autosport Haymarket Publications 19 September 2013 19 September 2013 Campos Racing reduced their entry to a single car for Fernando Monje with Hugo Valente not participating. China Dragon Racing joined the grid with a pair of Chevrolet Cruze LTs for Felipe De Souza and Kin Veng Ng,Hudson Neil Veng & de Souza back with China Dragon Racing http://www.touringcartimes.com/2013/09/12/veng-de-souza-back-with-china-dragon-racing/ TouringCarTimes Mediaempire Stockholm AB 19 September 2013 12 September 2013 the Son Veng Racing Team ran another naturally aspirated Cruze for series debutant Jerónimo Badaraco.BADARACO JOINS FOR ASIAN ROUNDS http://www.fiawtcc.com/news/detail/id/1447/t/BADARACO-JOINS-FOR-ASIAN-ROUNDS World Touring Car Championship Kigema Sport Organisation 12 September 2013 19 September 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055334/http://www.fiawtcc.com/news/detail/id/1447/t/BADARACO-JOINS-FOR-ASIAN-ROUNDS 2013-09-21 dead Wiechers-Sport ran Yukinori Taniguchi as the replacement for Fredy Barth who was unable to participate due to other commitments.http://www.touringcartimes.com/2013/09/13/yukinori-taniguchi-to-race-for-wiechers-sport-in-suzuka/ Yukinori Taniguchi to race for Wiechers-Sport in Suzuka TouringCarTimes Mediaempire Stockholm AB 13 September 2013 19 September 2013 RPM Racing entered a BMW 320si for Mak Ka Lok. Report Testing and free practice Muller led Pepe Oriola at the end of the first test session on Friday which saw a number of red flags. Souza spun his China Dragon Racing Chevrolet at turn eight, Mikhail Kozlovskiy was the next to get stuck in the gravel while Norbert Michelisz put his Zengő Motorsport Honda also ended his session in the gravel traps.Abbott Andrew Muller fastest in Suzuka Friday testing http://www.touringcars.net/2013/09/muller-fastest-in-suzuka-friday-testing Touring-Cars.net Andrew Abbott 20 September 2013 20 September 2013 Monteiro headed a Honda 1–2 in free practice one with Izawa second fastest, championship leader Muller was third. Marc Basseng was black flagged having been towed out of the gravel trap at Turn 8.PRACTICE 1 – HONDA CARS TOP TIME SHEET http://www.fiawtcc.com/news/detail/id/1502 World Touring Car Championship Kigema Sport Organisation 21 September 2013 21 September 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130922175421/http://www.fiawtcc.com/news/detail/id/1502 2013-09-22 dead Muller was on top in free practice two, Alex MacDowall was second having led the session earlier on. Tom Chilton had a near–miss with his RML teammate and had to go off the track onto the grass to avoid collecting Muller.PRACTICE 2 – MULLER RESTORES HIERARCHY http://www.fiawtcc.com/news/detail/id/1504 World Touring Car Championship Kigema Sport Organisation 21 September 2013 21 September 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130922170652/http://www.fiawtcc.com/news/detail/id/1504 2013-09-22 dead Qualifying The four Honda cars led by Gabriele Tarquini were the first out on track at the start of Q1. Chilton was fastest earlier on in the session with MacDowall third. Monteiro went to the top of the times 8 minutes in before he was deposed by the fellow Honda of Michelisz. Muller moved to the top of the times with 3 minutes remaining, James Thompson moved into the top 12 at the expense of Charles Ng. Izawa was outside the top 12 and made a last attempt to get through to the second part of qualifying but a trip out onto the grass meant he failed to improve his time, ensuring Robert Huff in 12th was safely through to the next session. thumb|Poleman Norbert Michelisz during qualifying Early on in Q2, Michelisz led the RML drivers in the times while Thompson opted not to go out straight away. At the halfway point of the session all the drivers were in the pit lane, Oriola and MacDowall went out before Thompson went out for the first time with just under four minutes left of the session. Oriola looked to be setting a quick lap but failed to improve in the last sector, MacDowall went up to second with Thompson on his first timed lap did not improve from 12th. Muller had a slide at turn one while Tarquini went off a Turn 3 and narrowly avoided the tyre wall. At the end of the session Michelisz stayed on top to secure his first pole position of the season, MacDowall in second was the best placed independent driver while Mehdi Bennani finished tenth to take pole for race two.Tremayne Sam Suzuka WTCC: Norbert Michelisz puts Honda on home pole http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/110015 Autosport Haymarket Publications 21 September 2013 21 September 2013 Warm-Up Michelisz was fastest in the warm–up session on Sunday morning with Monteiro second.WARM UP — MICHELISZ REMAINS ON TOP http://www.fiawtcc.com/news/detail/id/1519 World Touring Car Championship Kigema Sport Organisation 22 September 2013 22 September 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130928000601/http://www.fiawtcc.com/news/detail/id/1519 2013-09-28 dead Race One thumb|Start of Race One Michelisz got away from pole position well to keep MacDowall behind him while Monteiro leapt up to third. At the end of the first lap Monteiro attempted to pass MacDowall but ran wide and dropped back behind the RML cars. On lap 4 Pepe Oriola tapped the back of Tarquini, as the Honda driver tried to regain control Nash went up the inside and moved up ahead of Oriola. Lap 8 saw Yoshimoto run wide at Turn 1. At half distance, Michelisz had built up a healthy lead over MacDowall who had the close company of Muller and Chilton; there was a gap to the rest of the field behind them led by Tarquini. Monteiro was right behind Oriola on lap 19 and trying to take seventh place, he tapped the back of Oriola who recovered but then Monteiro tried to go up the inside of Oriola at Turn 7, crashing into the tyre stack on the apex. At the same time Tarquini went off the track with a left–front puncture which released Nash into fifth place. Monteiro went into the pits for repairs as Oriola was issued with a drive–through penalty for squeezing Monteiro off the track. Oriola failed to serve his penalty; he returned to the pits where he retired his car. Michelisz claimed the victory while MacDowall held on to second after defending from Muller and Chilton on the last lap. Muller secured his fourth World Drivers' Championship title with third place.Tremayne Sam Suzuka WTCC: Yvan Muller earns fourth title, Norbert Michelisz wins http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/110058 Autosport Haymarket Publications 22 September 2013 22 September 2013 thumb|Opening lap of Race Two Race Two thumb|Tom Coronel celebrating his victory in Race Two Bennani lined up on pole position for the 200th race in the history of the WTCC. Bennani held the lead while contact further back between Michelisz and Muller flung Muller off into the wall and out of the race, Michelisz suffered a broken front left suspension. The incident left polystyrene on the pit straight. With the yellow flags out in the first sector, overtaking opportunities were limited as the leading pair of Bennani and Coronel pulled away from the Hondas of Tarquini and Monteiro. Tom Boardman tried an overtake up the inside of Kozlovskiy at Turn 1, Kozlovskiy was tapped and ran wide and Boardman went through. Coronel also tried a move on Bennani at the first corner shortly after and then again on lap 10 with no success. Mak went off into the gravel in the second sector while Monteiro got past his teammate. On lap 13 Kozlovskiy and Oriola were issued with drive–through penalties for jump starts. Charles Ng was defending from Robert Huff who made a move on the pit straight and went onto the grass to complete the move into the first corner. On lap 17 Coronel went into the lead, passing Bennani at the first corner when the Proteam Racing driver ran out wider than usual. Two laps from the end, MacDowall went off at Turn 1 and dropped from 9th to 13th when he returned to the track. Coronel claimed his third victory in Japan, Bennani was second and the independent winner. After the race, Basseng was given a 30–second penalty for a move on Thompson, which dropped him out of the points to 12th.TIME PENALTY FOR MARC BASSENG http://www.fiawtcc.com/news/detail/id/1537 World Touring Car Championship Kigema Sport Organisation 22 September 2013 22 September 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130929081434/http://www.fiawtcc.com/news/detail/id/1537 2013-09-29 dead Results Qualifying Pos. Position No. Car number Name Team Car C Class Q1 Q2 Points 1 5 HUN Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport Honda Civic WTCC 53.341 52.886 5 2 9 GBR Alex MacDowall bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY 53.696 53.011 4 3 23 GBR Tom Chilton RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 53.417 53.101 3 4 12 FRA Yvan Muller RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 53.228 53.119 2 5 14 GBR James Nash bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY 53.405 53.125 1 6 18 PRT Tiago Monteiro Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC 53.430 53.365 7 74 ESP Pepe Oriola Tuenti Racing Team Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 53.449 53.365 8 3 ITA Gabriele Tarquini Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC 53.382 53.379 9 15 NLD Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 53,405 53.432 10 25 MAR Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TCY 53.604 53.466 11 1 GBR Robert Huff ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport SEAT León WTCC 53.711 53.535 12 10 GBR James Thompson Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 53.685 53.648 13 7 HKG Charles Ng Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCY 53.733 14 38 DEU Marc Basseng ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport SEAT León WTCC 53.812 15 99 JPN Takuya Izawa Honda Racing Team JAS Honda Civic WTCCA 53.827 16 19 ESP Fernando Monje Campos Racing SEAT León WTCCY 53.870 17 67 JPN Hiroki Yoshimoto NIKA Racing Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY A 53.986 18 26 ITA Stefano D'Aste PB Racing BMW 320 TCY 53.991 19 55 HKG Darryl O'Young ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TCY 54.027 20 37 DEU René Münnich ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport SEAT León WTCCY 54.158 21 68 JPN Masaki Kano Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCY A 54.263 22 8 RUS Mikhail Kozlovskiy Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 54.292 23 22 GBR Tom Boardman Special Tuning Racing SEAT León WTCCY 54.395 24 33 JPN Yukinori Taniguchi Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TCY A 54.471 25 66 MAC Jerónimo Badaraco Son Veng Racing Team Chevrolet Cruze LTY A 55.257 26 88 MAC Henry Ho Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320siY A 55.611 27 60 MAC Felipe De Souza China Dragon Racing Chevrolet Cruze LTY A 55.672 28 61 MAC Kin Veng Ng China Dragon Racing Chevrolet Cruze LTY A 56.103 29 77 MAC Mak Ka Lok RPM Racing BMW 320siY A 56.478 Bold denotes Pole position for second race. Race 1 Pos. Position No. Car number Name Team Car C Class Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 5 HUN Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport Honda Civic WTCC 26 23:58.613 1 25 2 9 GBR Alex MacDowall bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY 26 +4.832 2 18 3 12 FRA Yvan Muller RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 26 +5.149 4 15 4 23 GBR Tom Chilton RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 26 +5.422 3 12 5 14 GBR James Nash bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY 26 +14.377 5 10 6 10 GBR James Thompson Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 26 +25.611 12 8 7 1 GBR Robert Huff ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport SEAT León WTCC 26 +25.786 11 6 8 15 NLD Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 26 +25.940 9 4 9 38 DEU Marc Basseng ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport SEAT León WTCC 26 +26.247 14 2 10 19 ESP Fernando Monje Campos Racing SEAT León WTCCY 26 +26.534 16 1 11 25 MAR Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TCY 26 +26.747 10 12 99 JPN Takuya Izawa Honda Racing Team JAS Honda Civic WTCCA 26 +27.062 15 13 55 HKG Darryl O'Young ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TCY 26 +28.805 19 14 7 HKG Charles Ng Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCY 26 +34.138 13 15 8 RUS Mikhail Kozlovskiy Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 26 +36.211 22 16 37 DEU René Münnich ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport SEAT León WTCCY 26 +36.280 20 17 33 JPN Yukinori Taniguchi Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TCY A 26 +36.985 24 18 67 JPN Hiroki Yoshimoto NIKA Racing Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY A 26 +44.883 17 19 68 JPN Masaki Kano Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCY A 26 +48.667 21 20 66 MAC Jerónimo Badaraco Son Veng Racing Team Chevrolet Cruze LTY A 26 +52.433 25 21 60 MAC Felipe De Souza China Dragon Racing Chevrolet Cruze LTY A 25 +1 Lap 27 22 61 MAC Kin Veng Ng China Dragon Racing Chevrolet Cruze LTY A 25 +1 Lap 28 23 77 MAC Mak Ka Lok RPM Racing BMW 320siY A 25 +1 Lap 29 24 88 MAC Henry Ho Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320siY A 24 +2 Laps 26 25 22 GBR Tom Boardman Special Tuning Racing SEAT León WTCCY 21 +5 Laps 23 26 74 ESP Pepe Oriola Tuenti Racing Team Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 21 +5 Laps1 1 7 27 3 ITA Gabriele Tarquini Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC 21 +5 Laps 8 28 18 PRT Tiago Monteiro Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC 19 +7 Laps 6 29 26 ITA Stefano D'Aste PB Racing BMW 320 TCY 19 +7 Laps 18 Bold denotes Fastest lap. 1 1 — Oriola received a post-race 30-second penalty.https://www.fiawtcc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/10-Race-of-Japan-2013.pdf Results booklet fiawtcc.com 22 September 2013 19 December 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20161007133733/https://www.fiawtcc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/10-Race-of-Japan-2013.pdf 7 October 2016 dead Race 2 Pos. Position No. Car number Name Team Car C Class Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 15 NLD Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 26 23:56.929 2 25 2 25 MAR Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TCY 26 +2.259 1 18 3 18 PRT Tiago Monteiro Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC 26 +9.935 5 15 4 3 ITA Gabriele Tarquini Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC 26 +10.732 3 12 5 14 GBR James Nash bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY 26 +11.438 6 10 6 23 GBR Tom Chilton RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 26 +11.802 8 8 7 7 HKG Charles Ng Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCY 26 +13.762 13 6 8 1 GBR Robert Huff ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport SEAT León WTCC 26 +14.088 11 4 9 26 ITA Stefano D'Aste PB Racing BMW 320 TCY 26 +23.564 18 2 10 55 HKG Darryl O'Young ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TCY 26 +23.753 19 1 11 10 GBR James Thompson Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 26 +23.780 12 12 9 GBR Alex MacDowall bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY 26 +24.249 9 13 19 ESP Fernando Monje Campos Racing SEAT León WTCCY 26 +24.497 16 14 37 DEU René Münnich ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport SEAT León WTCCY 26 +24.739 20 15 68 JPN Masaki Kano Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCY A 26 +26.576 21 16 33 JPN Yukinori Taniguchi Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TCY A 26 +36.768 24 17 38 DEU Marc Basseng ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport SEAT León WTCC 26 +53.300 14 18 66 MAC Jerónimo Badaraco Son Veng Racing Team Chevrolet Cruze LTY A 26 +54.197 25 19 8 RUS Mikhail Kozlovskiy Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 25 +1 Lap 22 20 61 MAC Kin Veng Ng China Dragon Racing Chevrolet Cruze LTY A 25 +1 Lap 28 21 88 MAC Henry Ho Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320siY A 23 +3 Laps 26 22 99 JPN Takuya Izawa Honda Racing Team JAS Honda Civic WTCCA 19 +7 Laps 15 Ret 22 GBR Tom Boardman Special Tuning Racing SEAT León WTCCY 16 23 Ret 67 JPN Hiroki Yoshimoto NIKA Racing Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY A 14 17 Ret 74 ESP Pepe Oriola Tuenti Racing Team Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 13 4 Ret 77 MAC Mak Ka Lok RPM Racing BMW 320siY A 10 Race incident 29 Ret 5 HUN Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport Honda Civic WTCC 1 Race incident 10 Ret 60 MAC Felipe De Souza China Dragon Racing Chevrolet Cruze LTY A 1 27 Ret 12 FRA Yvan Muller RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 0 Race incident 7 Bold denotes Fastest lap. Standings after the event Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 10px 1 FRA Yvan Muller 360 10px 1 2 ITA Gabriele Tarquini 211 10px 2 3 GBR Tom Chilton 183 10px 4 GBR James Nash 181 10px 2 5 DNK Michel Nykjær 180 Yokohama Independents' Trophy standings Pos Driver Points 10px 1 1 GBR James Nash 150 10px 1 2 DNK Michel Nykjær 134 10px 3 GBR Alex MacDowall 118 10px 4 MAR Mehdi Bennani 87 10px 5 ITA Stefano D'Aste 74 Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 10px 1 JPN Honda 848 10px 2 RUS Lada 519 Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of drivers' standings. References External links World Touring Car Championship official website FIA WTCC Race of Japan 2013 2013 FIA WTCC Race of the United States 2013 FIA WTCC Race of China 2012 FIA WTCC Race of Japan 2014 FIA WTCC Race of Japan Japan Race of Japan