José María López

José María López
José María "Pechito" López in 2013
Nationality	Argentine
Born	(1983-04-26) 26 April 1983 Río Tercero (Argentina)
2014 WTCC
Debut season	2007
Current team	Citroen
Car no.	37
Starts	0
Wins	0
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	TBA in 2014 World Touring Car Championship season
Previous series
2009 2008–09 2008 2007 2005–06 2004 2003–04 2003, 2005–06 2002 2001–02	Top Race V6 Turismo Carretera FIA GT Championship American Le Mans Series GP2 Series International Formula 3000 Formula Renault V6 Eurocup Formula One testing Formula Renault Italia FR2000 Eurocup
Championship titles
2009 2008–09 2003 2002	Top Race V6 TC 2000 Championship Formula Renault V6 Eurocup Formula Renault Italia

José María "Pechito" López (born 26 April 1983 in Río Tercero, Argentina) is a race car driver. He raced in the 2006 GP2 Series for the Super Nova team, and previously for the DAMS team, and the CMS team in Formula 3000. He was also at Renault F1 as a test driver. On 25 January 2010 he was signed to drive for the new Formula One team USF1 for the 2010 season, but the team folded before its first race.^[1]

Career

Early career

López began in karting, before moving to the Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup in 2001, finishing in 17th position, taking one pole position and one fastest lap.^[2] He stayed in the series for the 2002 season driving for Cram Competition, finishing in fourth position, taking one victory.^[2] He also drove for Cram in Italian Formula Renault that year, where he became champion, taking four wins, beating Robert Kubica to the crown. He moved on to the Formula Renault V6 Eurocup in 2003, making his first association with the DAMS team, winning the title with five race wins.^[2]

Formula 3000 and GP2

In 2004 López moved up to International Formula 3000 with the CMS team, finishing sixth overall.^[2] He also continued in the V6 Eurocup that year, driving in four races.

López raced in the inaugural season of the GP2 Series in 2005, making him one of only a select few drivers in the series who had previous experience of a full season in Formula 3000, the series which GP2 replaced. He finished ninth in the standings racing for the DAMS team.^[2] For 2006 he moved to the Super Nova Racing team, finishing tenth in the standings.^[2]

Return to Argentina

López won the opening round of the 2010 TC 2000 season in Punta del Este, Uruguay.

In the early part of 2007, López raced in the American Le Mans Series, racing a Ferrari 430 GT for Corsa Motorsports/White Lightning in the 12 Hours of Sebring, and for Risi Competizione at St. Petersburg.

López also returned to Argentina in 2007 to race in TC 2000, the country's major production-based touring car championship. He was 5th that year, won the drivers' title in 2008, and successfully defended this crown in 2009. López also joined the Turismo Carretera in 2008 and the Top Race V6 in 2009; he became TRV6 champion in 2009. He narrowly lost out on winning the 2009 Turismo Carretera title after crashing out on an oilspill on the 18th lap of the final race of the season, thereby losing the unique opportunity to win three different championships in the same season.

He also competed in selected races of the FIA GT Championship in 2008 for the ACA Argentina team.^[2]

Formula One

López was a member of the Renault Driver Development programme between 2004 and 2006, and was test driver for Renault F1 during the 2006 season.

In November 2009 López confirmed that he had a deal in place with the new US F1 Team to race in the 2010 Formula One season, provided he secured an eight million-dollar sponsorship package.^[3] Sources close to López claimed he already had eighty percent of the funds needed to secure his place in the team.^[4]

López was announced as a driver for US F1 on 25 January 2010.^[1] Former F1 driver Carlos Reutemann, a close friend of US F1 principal Peter Windsor and a leading politician in Argentina, helped put the funding package together for López. Complications in USF1's progress and uncertainty over whether USF1 will be able to stay in F1 for 2010 caused rumours to surface that López was in talks with rival team Campos, in order to secure his place in F1. This was confirmed by his manager in late February.^[5] On 2 March 2010, he was freed from his contract due to US F1 not being able to attempt to race. On 4 March, Karun Chandhok completed the 2010 grid by signing for Campos (now renamed as the Hispania Racing F1 Team), leaving López without a race drive.^[6]

Recent years in Argentina

In 2010, López remained driving for Honda in the Argentine TC 2000 championship, finishing 6th. For 2011 he switched to Fiat. In 2012 he successfully won the (super) TC2000 championship for a third time, with privateer team PSG16. He made his World Touring Car Championship début with Wiechers-Sport at the 2013 FIA WTCC Race of Argentina, substituting for their regular driver Fredy Barth.^[7] He took both Yokohama Independents' Trophy victories and scored an overall victory in race two.^[8]

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Complete GP2 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete GT1 World Championship results

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

^* Season in progress.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to José María López.

External links

• Official website
• José María López on Twitter