Citroen confirms Lopez - and fourth WTCC car

Citroen confirms the signing of Jos? Maria Lopez for the new WTCC season - and announces the addition of a fourth car for its debut campaign

Matt Salisbury_1

16 Dec 2013

Citroen confirms Lopez - and fourth WTCC car

Citroen has confirmed that it has agreed a deal with Jos? Maria Lopez for the 2014 World Touring Car Championship - and also revealed that it will run a fourth car during its first season in the series.

Lopez, who won on his first outing in the series with Wiechers-Sport in Argentina earlier this year, will compete in a full season alongside defending champion Yvan Muller and multiple World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb.

The 30-year-old will be moving into the WTCC on a full-time basis having spent recent seasons competing in the Argentine TC 2000 series, having missed out on the chance to move into F1 back in 2010 when the planned USF1 programme fell apart.

"For me, it is an honour to join Citroen and I am very excited to be involved in the programme," he said. "I have touring car experience in Argentina and I aim to do my best and give the team the help they need to develop the car and also do a good job on track.

"I am excited to share the team with Yvan and Sebastien as they are two of the best drivers in the world. I come from Cordoba so have watched Seb on the rally stages for many years and it is a dream to now have him as a team-mate."

Alongside Lopez, Citroen has now revealed it will also field a fourth C-Elysee during the course of the season for a currently unknown Chinese driver as it seeks to strengthen its position in the Asian market.

A selection process is currently underway to find that driver, who will be on-track for the Asian races in the latter part of the year.

"After spending the last ten years or so at the top of the WRC, we are excited about the idea of writing a new chapter in our shared history with Sebastien Loeb," Citroen Racing boss Yves Matton said. "We chose the WTCC because it is a form of racing with controlled costs, a genuinely-worldwide race calendar and a lot of media coverage.

"As was the case in cross country/rally-raid and in WRC, we have attempted to secure the best drivers for our team. Yvan Muller has been heavily involved in development of the car, and has been one the driving forces behind the progress we have made. But we also have high expectations of Jos?-Maria L?pez, who has proven to be very comfortable at the wheel of the C-Elysee WTCC during his first tests..."

2014 World Touring Car Championship grid (as at 16/12/13):

Yvan MullerCitroen RacingCitroen C-ElyseeSebastien LoebCitroen RacingCitroen C-ElyseeJos? Maria LopezCitroen RacingCitroen C-ElyseeTBCCitroen RacingCitroen C-ElyseeGabriele TarquiniHonda WTC TeamHonda CivicTiago MonteiroHonda WTC TeamHonda CivicNorbert MicheliszZengo MotorsportHonda CivicMehdi BennaniProteam RacingHonda CivicRob HuffLADA SportLADA GrantaJames ThompsonLADA SportLADA GrantaMikhail KozlovskiyLADA SportLADA GrantaTom CoronelROAL MotorsportChevrolet CruzeTom ChiltonROAL MotorsportChevrolet CruzeHugo ValenteCampos RacingChevrolet CruzeDusan BorkovicNIS Petrol Racing TeamSEAT Leon *Rene MunnichMunnich MotorsportSEAT Leon * Selected eventsMarc BassengMunnich MotorsportSEAT Leon * Selected events