With ten victories during 2014, José María López won the Drivers' Championship by 126 points, ahead of his nearest challenger, Yvan Muller.Citroën won the Manufacturers' Championship with the Citroën C-Elysée WTCC, winning 17 of the 23 races (74% of victories).
After making a race-winning début on home soil during the 2013 campaign, Argentina's José María López won the drivers' championship after performing strongest during the season.[2] Driving for the Citroën team, López won ten races during the season, significantly more than team-mates Yvan Muller – the defending series champion – and Sébastien Loeb, who was in his first season in the championship. López finished all but one race during the season, with his only retirement coming during the second race in Russia,[3] and finished the season 126 points clear of his next closest challenger, which was Muller. Muller took four victories during the season, all coming from pole position. Loeb finished a further 41 points behind Muller, taking a pair of victories, in Morocco and the only race in Slovakia.
Only one other driver won more than one race, as Robert Huff won the first races for Lada Sport in the World Touring Car Championship. Huff won the second races in Beijing and Macau; his win in the latter was his seventh at the circuit,[4] over the previous seven years. Single race winners during 2014 were Gabriele Tarquini (Japan), Tom Chilton (Beijing), Gianni Morbidelli (Hungary), Mehdi Bennani (Shanghai) and Ma Qing Hua in Russia. Morbidelli's win was his first in the series, while the victories for Bennani and Ma were the first in FIA competition for their respective countries, Morocco and China.[3][5]
Citroën dominated the manufacturers' championship, taking a total of 17 overall wins out of the 23 races. The marque finished almost 300 points clear of Honda, who finished in second position. In the TC2-only Yokohama Drivers' Trophy, Franz Engstler finished well clear of the field in his final WTCC season before moving to the TCR International Series. Engstler achieved 20 victories and a pair of second places from 23 starts, and finished 90 points clear of closest rival John Filippi, who won the second race in Japan. The other race winners were Pasquale Di Sabatino in Hungary, and ETCC regular Petr Fulín, who won the race in Slovakia. In the Yokohama Teams' Trophy for non-manufacturer teams, ROAL Motorsport, with Chilton and Tom Coronel as its drivers, finished 91 points clear of the single-car team of Zengő Motorsport and driver Norbert Michelisz. The Yokohama Performer of the Year award went to López, taking the most fastest laps of the season, with eleven.
Teams and drivers
Defending champion Yvan Muller placed second in the Drivers' Championship, winning four races.In his rookie season in the championship, Sébastien Loeb placed third with two race victories.
For the 2014 season, the series' technical regulations were altered. Cars built to the 2014 specifications were classified as "TC1", whilst cars built prior to 2014 were classified as "TC2".[6]
French car manufacturer Citroën entered the championship in 2014, with a works team, competing with the Citroën C-Elysée model.[7][42][43] The team entered three cars for the full season, and added an additional entry for Ma Qing Hua in five rounds of the championship.
In September 2013, SEAT announced that they would not return to the WTCC in 2014 in order to focus on the revived SEAT León Eurocup. Some private entries used old-specification SEAT cars in the TC2 class.[6][22]
Münnich Motorsport had originally intended to enter one car for team owner René Münnich in selected races in the TC2 class,[22] but later elected to remain in TC1, competing with two 2014-specification Chevrolet Cruzes.[23]
The RML Group shifted its focus in 2014, withdrawing their team in order to become a constructor and supply 2014-specification Chevrolet Cruzes to customer teams.[17][44]
José María López joined Citroën for a full-season campaign after making his World Touring Car Championship debut at his home race in Argentina during the 2013 season.[10]
Yvan Muller left RML after four years with the team, joining Citroën's campaign alongside Loeb.[8]
The sporting and technical regulations were approved by the FIA, at the July 2013 meeting of the World Motor Sport Council:[43]
Sporting regulations
Race distances were fixed at 60 kilometres (37 miles), and all races utilised a standing start.
Qualifying was held in three parts, with the top five going into Q3.
The balance of performance—introducing various waivers and differentiated base weights of the cars to equalise the field— but compensation weights were used once again.
Technical regulations
The series introduced a raft of changes to the technical regulations for the 2014 season. The cars were still built to Super 2000 regulations, but with significant changes compared to the 2011 generation of cars. The minimum weight of the cars was reduced from 1,150 kilograms (2,540 pounds) to 1,100 kilograms (2,400 pounds), and was accompanied by an increase in the power output of the engine, which rose to 380 bhp, an increase of between 50 and 60 bhp depending on the engine being used. The size of the wheels being used increased to 18", with MacPherson strut suspension being introduced to all cars. The dimensions of the cars changed, with a maximum width of 1,950 mm (77 in), and a 100 mm (3.9 in) front splitter. Changes to the aerodynamic package allowed teams to use flat floors, and introduce single-plane rear wings that were allowed, but to be no higher than the roof of the car.
Calendar
The provisional 2014 schedule was announced on 4 November 2013. The season was once again contested over twenty-four races at twelve circuits.
On 4 January, the FIA announced that the full Grand Prix circuit at Suzuka would be utilised, for the Race of Japan having previously used the East circuit.
Yvan Muller and his Citroën C-Elysée WTCC. As the most competitive car, the Citroën C-Elysée WTCC got a maximum of 60 kg ballast during the whole season.The Citroën Racing/Total team won the Manufacturer title five races before the end of the season, with a Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 1-2-3-4 at the race of Shanghaï (from left to right: Yves Matton director of Citroën Racing, Ma Qing Hua, J-M López, Yvan Muller and Franz Engstler for 'TC2')
Compensation weights
The most competitive cars keep a 60 kg compensation weight. The other cars get a lower one, calculated according to their results for the three previous rounds. The less the cars get some good results, the less they get a compensation weight, from 0 kg to 60 kg. The compensation weights were introduced starting from the third round.
During the whole season, the Citroën C-Elysée was the reference car with the best races results and so was handicapped by a 60 kg compensation weight to limit its performances, as well as during the qualifications than during the races.
World Touring Car Championship promoter Eurosport Events organised the Yokohama Drivers' Trophy and the Yokohama Teams' Trophy within the 2014 FIA World Touring Car Championship.
Yokohama Drivers' Trophy
All TC2 entries were eligible for the Yokohama Drivers' Trophy.
^The team was renamed Lada Sport from the Race of Beijing onwards following Lukoil's decision to terminate sponsorship with immediate effect.[14]
^Sébastien Loeb had claimed his first career pole by setting the fastest time, ahead of team-mates José María López and Yvan Muller.[50] Loeb and López eventually lost their front row positions and their qualifying points after the automatic fuel cut-off system did not function correctly in scrutineering on their respective cars. Both drivers started the two races from the back of the grid and Muller was promoted to pole.[51]
^Gianni Morbidelli had claimed his first career pole and the first of the season for a non-Citroën car by setting the fastest time, ahead of Yvan Muller and Sébastien Loeb.[52] Morbidelli eventually received a five place penalty for improving his time under yellow flag during Q1 but was entitled to keep the five championship points for pole position.[53]
^"Bennani overwhelmed by first WTCC win". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 13 October 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2014. Mehdi Bennani says he feels like he is 'living in a dream' as he became the first Moroccan to win a world championship motorsport event with victory in Shanghai.