Bamboo drivers shine in Italy

Last weekend in Monza, bamboo-engineering drivers Harry Vaulkhard and Darryl O’Young had their best WTCC weekend so far.

On the Italian circuit the Chevrolet Lacetti cars run by the British team proved that they can compete with the BMW cars for the Independents’ Trophy lead.

On Saturday O’Young set pole position, claiming a brilliant 12th place overall and beating his team-mate by two tenths. The Chinese driver was not lucky at the start of the first race, being collected and pushed off by Kristian Poulsen’s BMW soon after the start.

Vaulkhard crossed the finish line in second place, after a tough battle with Proteam’s Stefano D’Aste and Sergio Hernández, but then inherited victory when Mehdi Bennani was imposed a 30-second time penalty for cutting a chicane.

In the second race O’Young made a great recovery, finishing a close second behind local hero D’Aste, while Vaulkhard completed the podium.