Jose Maria Lopez

1. Who is José María López?

José María López is Argentinian, he was born on April 26, 1983 in Río Tercero. He is currently a driver in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) for the Toyota Gazoo Racing team. 

José María López is an Argentine driver competing in the world endurance championship (Photo: DPPI)

2. José María López’s junior career

José María López discovered car racing with karting. He won titles in 1997 and 1998 in Argentinian junior karting.

Lopez arrived in Europe in 2000 to find a place in the promotional formula. The three-time Argentine Junior Karting champion begins single-seater racing with the Italian Formula Renault.

In 2002, after a fierce battle with Robert Kubica, the Argentinian won the title by overtaking the Pole in the last point of the last race. Renault decides to integrate him into Renault Driver Development. At the same time, López also competes in the Eurocup Formula Renault. He was crowned with Dams in 2003, with five victories in the season.

José María López with Super Nova in GP2 Series (Photo: Gilles Levent / DPPI)

The team offers the Argentinian a place in the GP2 Series for 2005. Ninth in the drivers' championship with a success, José María López repeats but changes team. The Super Nova Racing team offered him a steering wheel for the following season.

Tenth in the championship, López also became a Renault F1 Team test driver. Jose Maria Lopez hopes to land in F1 in 2008, but the French team chooses Nelson Piquet Junior.

`José María López is not kept within the Renault fold. He signed up with US F1 for the 2010 Formula 1 season, in which the American team ultimately did not participate.

3. José María López’s WTCC journey

After this disappointment, José María López returned to Argentina. José Maria Lopez will dedicate himself to super touring in the Argentine TC2000. Double Argentinian TC2000 champion in 2008 and 2012, he moved to the FIA ​​WTCC championship from 2013. Between 2014 and 2016, José Maria Lopez became three times world champion with Citroën.

Pechito during the first round of the 2014 WTCC season in Morocco (Photo: DPPI)

Three years where the Argentinian will dominate the world championship, despite the presence of big names in motorsport like Yvan Muller and Sébastien Loeb, who were his own teammates.

His touring debut took place in 2013 with the Wiechers-Sport team on the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit, on his Argentinian soil. By winning in race 2, he was spotted by Yves Matton, the boss of Citroën Racing.

Then he was established in 2014 with the French manufacturer, where he distinguished himself by taking pole position and victory in Race 1 in Morocco in the first round of the season. During the Argentinian stage, Pechito had the perfect weekend: pole position and victory in both races. He was crowned world champion in his first full season. López then arrived in Formula E, without making much of an impression.

4. José María López’s Endurance Journey

From 2017, the Argentinian competes in the WEC with Toyota. Alongside Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway, José María López finished sixth in the championship. A difficult season, enhanced by a third place at the 6 Hours of Nürburgring and a second position at Fuji. After learning comes performance. The Toyota driver won his first Endurance race on October 14, 2018 at the 6 Hours of Fuji.

First victory in Endurance during the 6 Hours of Fuji 2018 with Toyota (Photo: DPPI)

He continued a few weeks later on the Shanghai circuit. His four additional podiums place him in second place overall. José María López put his name on the list the following season. An extended year which opens in the most beautiful way with a victory at the 6 Hours of Silverstone.

Kamui Kobayashi, José Maria López and Mike Conway victorious at Silverstone (Photo: DPPI)

More than a year later, in mid-November 2020, López and his teammates won the title after their victory at the 6 Hours of Bahrain. The four victories prevent all other crews from competing for the title. In 2021, José María López won the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the wheel of his No. 7 Toyota, but in a Hypercar this time.

In 2021, the Argentinian wins the 24 Hours of Le Mans (Photo: DPPI)

5. AUTOhebdo's opinion on José María López

José María López is a driver who delights in beating the odds. His dominant series in the WTCC stunned more than one, the Argentinian having extinguished all internal desire while his teammates were named Yvan Müller and Sébastien Loeb!

Returning from his country, the Argentinian won in the WTCC with the Citroën team (Photo: DPPI)

The current Toyota driver has always dreamed of competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but this dream of Endurance began with numerous nightmares, the fault of errors of judgment.

For several seasons, José María López has understood that there is no need to get excited behind the wheel, and the results follow with a coronation at Le Mans in 2021, becoming only the third driver to become world champion in three different FIA championships.

The Argentinian driver flew the colors of his homeland at Le Mans in 2021, teaming up with Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi (Photo: DPPI)

Star in Argentina, he made his country's history by becoming the second Argentinian to win the Le Mans classic.