Monza - Race 1: Huff wins the Chevrolet battle

Rob Huff emerged as the winner after an extremely tough fight with his Chevrolet team-mates Yvan Muller and Alain Menu.

The three drivers and their Cruze cars gave battle each other from the rolling start and did not spared blows that were sometimes at the limit of the fair driving. The fight ended with a clash between Muller and Menu that sent the latter spinning against the barriers and out of the race.

Another exciting fight, though very fair, was fought for third place between Tiago Monteiro, Norbert Michelisz, Tom Coronel and Kristian Poulsen. The conclusion saw Monteiro sprinting ahead of Michelisz by 0.030 seconds to grab the final spot on the podium, while the young Hungarian contented himself with victory in the Yokohama Trophy.

Darryl O’Young, Javier Villa, Franz Engstler and Fredy Barth rounded up the top ten, with latter winning the Jay-Ten Trophy.

Key moments
Start – Huff turns first into the chicane, followed by Muller, Menu, Monteiro, Michelisz
Lap 1 – The three Chevrolet drivers are side-to-side entering the Parabolica
Lap 2 – Menu overtakes Muller for second at the first chicane
Lap 3 – Tarquini and Poulsen overtake O’Young for seventh
Lap 3 – Dudukalo goes off at Ascari
Lap 3 – Poulsen and Tarquini have a contact
Lap 3 – Lee pits because of a loose cooling duct; the problem fixed he rejoins one lap later
Lap 4 – Okyay drives wide onto the gravel bed at Lesmo, but rejoins
Lap 4 – Tarquini retires, the front suspension broken after the collision with Poulsen
Lap 6 – Huff and Menu clash at Ascari while fighting for the lead
Lap 7 – O’Young overtakes Villa for eighth
Lap 8 – Nykjær hits Bennani, sending him into a spin
Lap 8 – Michelisz overtakes Monteiro for fourth
Lap 9 – Menu and Muller come together at Lesmo, Menu hits the barrier and retires
Lap 9 – Huff wins from Muller; Monteiro claim third from Michelisz

Withdrawals
A. Dudukalo: race incident; G. Tarquini: race incident; A. Menu: race incident.