Jose Maria Lopez received a king like return to his native Argentina during Monday’s press conference in Buenos Aires.
Over 80 journalists attended the conference, hosted by the mayor of Buenos Aires at the Automobile Club of Argentina. The event was organised with Jose Maria in mind: Buenos Aires will be hosting its third Formula E race on February 16 and Jose Maria Lopez is the first Argentinian driver to race in the series.
The homegrown driver has competed and won in eight different classes, including three world championships in the World Touring Car Championship Series. All three of which concluded in Marrakech, a track he races next week in his second appearance for Virgin Racing’s Formula E team.
Jose Maria Lopez – who now resides in Geneva, is also something of a people’s champion having won Fanboost – Formula E’s social media voting system in his debut race in Hong Kong. In addition to a one on one with Formula E chairman Alejandro Agag, Jose Maria Lopez, or ‘Pechito’ as he his nicknamed, undertook over 25 individual interviews with Spanish press in a nine hour long press event!
Speaking at the event, Jose Maria said “I want to thank the Argentinians so much. Me winning Fanboost in Hong Kong and continue to receive the online vote gives a massive feeling of support. Between that and Formula E itself, I feel like I’ve fallen in love with motorsport all over again.”
Carlos Garcia Remohi, President of the ACA where the event was held was similarly emotive. “We are grateful to Buenos Aires for hosting this event for a third consecutive time. Up until now Argentina has been missing a champion in this category. At long last, we have one!”
Jose Maria Lopez will race alongside British team mate Sam Bird for Virgin Racing in Marrakech on the 12th November.