Macau, Race 1 - Huff reduces gap to 13 points
Huff keeps World Touring Car title hopes alive
Rob Huff won the first race at Macau, keeping his team-mate and championship leader Yvan Muller at bay during a race that was neutralized twice by the safety car. This result meant that the Briton reduced his gap from Muller to 13 points, keeping alive his chances to be sacred world champion in the second race.
For the whole distance Muller put strong pressure on Huff, changing line at every braking point in the attempt to push him to make a mistake. In spite of this, Huff remained cool and focused, avoiding to open the least of a gap.
Gabriele Tarquini collected another podium result ahead of Tom Coronel, while Michel Nikyær finished in fifth winning the Yokohama Trophy, while Kristian Poulsen clinched the title even before the final race. Joe Rosa-Merszei claimed victory in the Jay-Ten Trophy.
Key moments
Start – Huff takes the lead from Muller and Tarquini
Lap 1 – Couto spins at the Mandarin bend and collects Menu; the safety car is deployed
Lap 5 – the race resumes; Monteiro goes straight at the Lisboa bend dropping from 7th to 18th
Lap 5 - O’Young and Bennani come together at the Lisboa bend; the safety car is deployed again
Lap 8 – the race resumes
Lap 9 – Dudukalo crashes at Moorish Hill
Lap 10 – Engstler overtakes Poulsen for sixth; Bennani overtakes Villa for tenth
Lap 11 – Bennani overtakes Oriola for ninth
Withdrawals
Kuok Io Keong: DNS; A. Couto race incident; A. Menu: race incident; D. O’Young: race incident; Dudukalo race incident
Pos. | Driver | Car | Time |
---|---|---|---|
01 | R. Huff | Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | 11 laps - 35m01.903s |
02 | Y. Muller | Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | +1.016s |
03 | G. Tarquini | SR Leon 1.6T | +6.666s |
04 | T. Coronel | BMW 320 TC | +8.239s |
05 | M. Nykjaer | SR Leon 1.6T | +10.778s |
06 | F. Engstler | BMW 320 TC | +11.165s |
07 | K. Poulsen | BMW 320 TC | +11.860s |
08 | N. Michelisz | BMW 320 TC | +12.049s |
09 | M. Bennani | BMW 320 TC | +14.146s |
10 | P. Oriola | SR Leon 1.6T | +16.940s |
11 | J. Villa | BMW 320 TC | +17.136s |
12 | T. Monteiro | SR Leon 1.6T | +21.775s |
13 | C. Ng | BMW 320 TC | +41.256s |
14 | J. Merszei | BMW 320 si | +46.447s |
15 | F. Desouza | Chevrolet Lacetti | +2 laps |
16 | G. Kwok | BMW 320 TC | +3 laps |
17 | A. Dudukalo | SR Leon 1.6T | DNF |
18 | P. Ma | BMW 320 si | DNF |
19 | Mak Ka Lok | BMW 320 si | DNF |
20 | D. O’Young | Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | DNF |
21 | A. Couto | SR Leon 1.6T | DNF |
22 | A. Menu | Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | DNF |
Best lap | Y. Muller | Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | 2:32.146 |
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