Citroën driver Loeb claimed a popular home win in the first JVC KENWOOD WTCC Race of France before his team-mate López took the top prize in the second 16-lap contest at Circuit Paul Ricard. 

Loeb, the nine-time world rally champion, beat the intense heat and fellow Citroën drivers Yvan Muller and López for victory by six seconds. Ma Qing Hua completed a Citroën top-four as Tom Chilton grabbed the Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy prize in fifth in his privateer Chevrolet. Norbert Michelisz edged fellow Honda driver Tiago Monteiro for sixth with Gabriele Tarquini eighth and Mehdi Bennani passing LADA pilot Jaap van Lagen for ninth.

Bennani started the 16-lap reverse grid second race from pole but a jumped-start earned the Moroccan a drive-through penalty and allowed Michelisz to move in front. But the Hungarian Honda driver had no answer to the flying López, who charged through from eighth on the grid to overtake with two laps remaining for his fifth win of the year.

However, his progress up the order wasn’t without incident: a collision with Monteiro in their battle for second behind Michelisz triggered Monteiro’s retirement and briefly dropped López behind Ma before the Argentine began his successful recovery drive.

Ma completed the podium with Muller fourth, Tarquini fifth and Hugo Valente sixth. López now leads the standings by 39 points over Muller heading to the Vila Real street race in Portugal from 10-12 July.