Present: 
José María López, Citroën Total WTCC, provisional FIA World Touring Car champion 2016*
Norbert Michelisz, Honda Racing Team JAS, first position, Opening Race
Rob Huff, Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team, second position, Opening Race
Tiago Monteiro, Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team, third position, Opening Race
Yvan Muller, Citroën Total WTCC, first position, Main Race
Tom Chilton, Sébastien Loeb Racing, WTCC Trophy winner, Opening Race
Mehdi Bennani, Sébastien Loeb Racing, WTCC Trophy winner, Main Race

Q:
Firstly, welcome to the provisional world champion for 2016*, José María López. José, sorry to ask, but can you describe how you are feeling right now?

JML:
I am probably one of the happiest people in the world right now. As I have said before, sometimes behind the cameras people see a hard and cold man but you know we all are human beings and there are a lot of things and a lot of emotion behind a world championship. You don’t win a championship easy, you don’t win a race easily. It’s been a fantastic three years for me. Any driver in the world would like to achieve this. I’ve been lucky enough to be in the best team in the world with great team-mates, a great family, a great girlfriend, great everything. Everything came together these last three years and I have only to say thank you to everybody. It’s not only me, it’s a lot of things. The WTCC that gave me the opportunity as well but mostly the team, I wouldn’t be here without Citroën today and my team-mates so thank you to them.

Q:
For most of the Main Race it looked as though you were on course for your eighth win of the season then we saw you let your team-mate Yvan Muller take the victory. We understand that was a gesture from you. Is that correct?

JML:
It was not an easy decision, it’s not easy for me to give up a win because I know they are fighting in the championship and I don’t really want to get involved. It was more a gesture to Yvan and I hope he doesn’t take it the wrong way, that’s why it was difficult to take the decision. I was thinking maybe it was disrespectful, maybe he thinks that but what I was thinking and why I did it, he knows but to show my respect for him because he’s a great champion, a great team-mate, we had a fair fight over three years, I think it’s what I felt. I never did something like this. It was hard, I wanted to win, I wanted to hear my national song on the podium but it doesn’t change anything for me. I don’t know how many times I will have the opportunity to say thank you to him like this. I think more than an award, I think this is more important. As a racing driver he knows how difficult it is to give up a victory so that’s a way just to thank you Yvan, you are still the greatest in WTCC and I think he will keep many years like this as well. There was nothing more than this.

Q:
Turning to Norbert Michelisz, finally, after quite a wait, you’re winning again in the world championship. Congratulations but can you explain your race because it looked like a perfect drive, leading from start to finish?

NM:
It was a nice race I have to say. We did some strategy yesterday in qualifying. I was not able to be as fast as Tiago so we had to switch to a different one aiming for P10. We were lucky enough to manage. That was the key and also the standing start for the opening race, it was almost perfect, a very nice acceleration. I have to say when you are in front it’s quite easy to manage your brakes, your tyres. I knew I had Rob behind after a couple of laps, he’s supporting me, he’s helping me with the traffic behind. I don’t want to say it was too easy but I was confident enough to don’t do any mistakes and I’m really happy because the main thing now with this amount of ballast we were competitive in terms of lap times. Okay you can win the reverse-grid race but in terms of lap times, what Tiago showed in qualifying and also the race performance was quite okay so I am proud of everyone. I said before Argentina I’m not going for second or third place finishes any more and fortunately after Argentina I managed to win the race here. Of course having a race win at the home race win for Honda at Twin Ring Motegi is the best thing you can get so congratulations to all the team so thank you very much.

Q:
There were two winners at Twin Ring Motegi today and congratulations to Yvan Muller for your first win of the season and the 48th of your career, which puts you two away from the big 50 and also second equal on points with Tiago. Please just talk us through the Main Race from your perspective?

YM:
First of all, I have to congratulate José because he is a big champion, he’s fast and since three years he’s probably the best driver so far. For my race, all my weekend was really good. I was putting all my energy at the start of the Main Race but, unfortunately, it was not enough and after that I was driving hard and as fast as I could just to keep a gap with Tiago because for the moment Tiago is my target in the championship. I am pleased now we are equal on points and it will be a good fight between us for the rest of the season.

Q:
Turning to Rob Huff, second place in the Opening Race today and congratulations for that result but was there a point when you could have beaten your team-mate Norbi or was it a case of the start decided the race?

RH:
We had a strategy and it worked perfectly. Unfortunately, I got hit on lap three or four and that put a bit of damage on the rear of the car. it was then basically just a case of getting the car back home. But I just want to say a huge congratulations to Honda for having a 1-2-3 on home soil with 80 kilos on board is probably something we could only really have dreamt of and we managed to achieve it. That was the main goal today and it’s been a fantastic weekend. The Main Race was very tough indeed but again we gained valuable points for the championship.

Q:
Turning to Tiago Monteiro, not one podium but two podiums at Honda’s home race. But is there a sense of disappointment that the championship is finally beyond your reach given how close were were at one stage, leading in fact?

TM:
No because it was pretty much clear already. It was not this weekend when we realised we could not fight for the championship any more. It happened some time ago after all the things that happened to us this season. To be honest this weekend has gone much better than we anticipated. As my team-mates said with 80 kilos on board it was a definitely a very difficult car to drive but we managed to find a good balance, better than I expected. Getting to Qualifying Q3 was great, two podiums today I am really, really happy with the result today. It’s obviously good for the championship. Pechito didn’t help me a lot letting Yvan past. But as Yvan said I’m his target and he’s my target. The championship is not possible for us any more so we will fight for second and every point will count. A very good weekend for sure, so happy we had a 1-2-3 for Honda in their home race, unbelievable, really much, much better than we expected and I am glad for that. Well done to everybody.

Q:
Turning to Tom Chilton, winning the WTCC Trophy in the Opening Race here was really important to keep your championship hopes alive and you achieved it. How pleased were you with that result?

TC:
It was a very good, exciting race. I worked really hard on my starts this weekend. I think the starts were very important in both races. I got a really good start and I was really happy with that. My focus was on pushing forwards. Mehdi had to go for a drive-through in the Opening Race and I realise I didn’t have much competition then but I was wrong. I had an extremely exciting race with Volvo, with Néstor Girolami in the Opening Race. I managed to keep him behind me but he’s a very good driver, a very strong drive so I had to do lots of defending, which followed through into the Main Race where I fought really hard with the Volvo again but they seemed to figure something out with the car for the Main Race but I was really happy to keep Thed [Björk] behind me. We had a strong battle together. All in all, I was very happy I closed the gap on Mehdi in the WTCC Trophy this weekend. It’s getting quite close.

Q:
Finally, to Mehdi Bennani, winner of the WTCC Trophy in the Main Race but also with a strong overall result. But it must have been a case of mixed emotions after that drive-through penalty in the Opening Race?

MB:
For sure the Opening Race I did really a small mistake. But I don’t know sometimes, I need to double check. Sometimes it happens and nobody says something and sometimes it happens and you are the focus of everybody and you get the drive-through penalty. The Opening Race was really a mistake. It was a shame for sure because I had a good car to fight. But it happens. Sometimes you are on the limit, sometimes you are over it. This is what happened in the Opening Race. At the end of the Main Race it was not easy to start because I didn’t want to do a mistake after losing too much points in the Opening Race. At the end I do a good start and I think with Tiago I was pushing on the limit, I tried to keep the pressure on but I keep my fourth position overall and it was not too bad and to also score some important points of the WTCC Trophy.

Questions from the floor:

Q:
Neil Hudson (TouringCarTimes, Sweden) to José María López: You could have won the championship in the Opening Race, you had a great fight through. Could you talk us through the first race because it was probably a more exciting race?

JML:
It was a really hard race, hard for the cars, hard for the drivers. I didn’t really get a good start but then I had to go through the field. You lose a lot of downforce behind the other cars but my car was very good, especially after mid-race and I could find a way back to a good place and also, especially I was trying to come back to Tiago a little bit, to have the possibility. It was a great fight as always, some contacts, I was a bit lucky to finish in the end. I had a big shunt from Catsburg in the rear, I was a bit lucky there but it came okay. I would like to say the Opening Race is a war for us. You get hit from everywhere but it’s a fun race obviously.

Q:
Stéphane Barbe (L’Equipe, France) to José María López: What will be your mood for the last two races because you are already champion and at the same time you will start a new championship?

JML:
It won’t be different to the last years, I like what I do, I like to fight, I like to win. Mainly of course the next race to get the constructors’ championship, that is the main objective for us and, if I can, I will try to help Yvan get the second place in the championship as well.

Q:
Neil Hudson (TouringCarTimes, Sweden) to Yvan Muller. José said it wasn’t team orders but a gesture as a thank you to let you win and he wasn’t sure how you would take it. What are your thoughts on that gesture?

YM:
It was a very good gesture and I would like him to do some more! We discussed about that possibility during the weekend, yesterday actually, because sometimes it was opposite like in Argentina when I decide for myself to give him help. He wanted to give me back. There was no team order but even if that was a team order I don’t see why that would be a problem because we are Citroën drivers. But he decided for himself to do it like I decided from myself to do it in Argentina like it happened before during the season. For him to win a race was just another win but he was champion so he give me a hand to take some points for the second place. But it’s very rare this kind of gesture in motor racing and I am pleased there is that team spirit in Citroën. I am really pleased of that, José and myself have a great team spirit and that showed the realtion there is in the team.

*José María López is the provisional FIA World Touring Car champion for 2016 subject to official FIA confirmation. This is because the WTCC promoter, Eurosport Events, has made a request to the FIA Touring Car Commission to cancel WTCC Race of Thailand, which will mean the championship will run over 11 events rather than 12, subject to final ratification by the FIA World Motor Sport Council.