Muller takes victory in race 1 as Huff retires at Macau

Yvan Muller has taken his first ever WTCC victory at Macau after an enthralling first race around the tricky Circuito da Guia, which saw Championship favorite Rob Huff retire and a large multi-car incident at the Hotel Lisboa section of the circuit on the opening lap. Muller was followed home by team-mate Alain Menu, with Tiago Monteiro 3rd.

At the start Yvan Muller immediately snatched the lead away from team-mate and Championship leader Rob Huff, as the duo negotiated the tricky Hotel Lisboa section of the circuit. As the leading drivers headed up St. Francisco Hill, utter carnage ensued further back at Hotel Lisboa as Norbert Michelisz, Stefano D’Aste and Mehdi Bennani in particular came together and blocked the entire track. At first it was thought a safety car might be required, however the melee was quickly cleared and the race continued.

As Rob Huff piled an immense amount of pressure onto leader Yvan Muller, Stefano D’Aste and Norbert Michelisz limped back to the pits with severe damage to their respective machines after being involved in the first lap fracas. Mehdi Bennani and Pepe Oriola were also victims of the incident on lap one, and were both forced into retirement. At the front of the order Rob Huff wasted no time in storming up the inside of team-mate Yvan Muller for the lead, however moments later the Briton suffered a severe collision with the armco barrier, sustaining disastrous damage to his machine.

This collision with the barrier saw Huff plummet through the order, as Muller assumed the lead ahead of team-mate Alain Menu and the Honda of Tiago Monteiro. Huff managed to limp back to the pits, however upon arriving at his garage it quickly became clear that the Briton was out of the opening race. This threw the Championship potentially wide open, as Huff’s fellow Championship rivals remained in 1st and 2nd.

However, the race was far from over following on from Huff’s retirement, as Menu began to close the gap between himself and race leader Muller. Whilst the Chevrolet duo jostled for position, Norbert Michelisz returned to the race after suffering damage during the opening lap melee. Alain Menu suddenly lunged up the inside of Yvan Muller, tapping the rear of his car and nearly tipping the Frenchman into what would’ve been a disastrous spin. Luckily Muller was able to expertly control the car, and retain the lead as Monteiro began to reel in Menu for 2nd.

Despite the pressure from his team-mate, Yvan Muller kept his cool and eventually crossed the line to take his first ever victory at Macau, and his 30th victory of his career. This closed the gap between Championship leader Rob Huff and the other Chevrolet’s of Alain Menu and Yvan Muller to just 17 and 19 points respectively. Darryl O’Young won the Yokohama Driver Trophy in the first race, finishing an impressive 5th in his Chevrolet. Rob Huff will start the second race from 10th position, with Alex MacDowall set to start on pole alongside Pepe Oriola with the top-ten reverse grid from race one.

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