Nordschleife, Race 2: Muller wins ultimate slipstreamer for glory

Yvan Muller made it two wins from two for Citroën in WTCC Race of Germany following a thrilling battle for FIA World Touring Car Championship glory on the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

Muller beat race José María López by 0.173s in a dramatic finish having resisted intense pressure from Honda’s Tiago Monteiro.

The Portuguese led away from pole but was unable to fend off Muller on the long Döttinger Hohe straight on lap one. Monteiro remained latched to Muller only for López to drag ahead on the final lap, having slipstreamed Gabriele Tarquini for third seconds earlier. Tarquini settled for fourth with Sébastien Loeb fifth and Mehdi Bennani the top Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy contender in sixth.

“It was a tough weekend for me,” said Muller, the four-time WTCC champion. “I was focused on my start and we went very aggressive with the downforce. It was very low, bad for sector four but fast in the straight and the strategy worked. It was nice to finish like this.”

Rob Huff scored LADA’s first points of the weekend in seventh, Tom Coronel took eighth, Jaap van Lagen ninth with John Filippi 10th, one place ahead of Sabine Schmitz. Grégoire Demoustier was next up but Ma Qing Hua crashed heavily on the final lap while on course for a points finish. Stefano D’Aste retired with accident damage having earlier come into contact with Schmitz. Norbert Michelisz retired with damaged rear suspension following an opening-lap clash.