Porto, Race 2: Controversial move gives Huff the win

Huff cut over the kerbs and jumpes into the lead

By Franck Drui

3 July 2011 - 19:10
Porto, Race 2: Controversial move (…)

Rob Huff won the second race in Porto that was full of action and excited the Portuguese fans who were cheering for Tiago Monteiro on his run for a well deserved podium result.
The first two laps took the breath away, as WTCC comebacker Stefano D’Aste tried all his best – and even more – to keep the Chevrolet cars of Yvan Muller and Huff behind.
This did not last long and to add insult to injury D’Aste lost a possible podium position when he was given a drive through because the front wheels of his car were outside of the pole position grid box at the start.
Eventually Huff stole the lead from Muller with a risky manoeuvre that resulted in a tangle that the stewards judged as a normal race incident.
Monteiro won the battle for third place, managing to keep Norbert Michelisz – who claimed another victory in the Yokohama Trophy – and Tom Coronel at bay. The Portuguese racer also gave the first podium finish to the SUNRED 1.6L turbo car.

Key moments
Start – D’Aste takes the lead from Muller and Huff
Lap 1 –Tarquini and Menu overtake Engstler, demoting him to ninth
Lap 2 – Muller tries to overtake D’Aste at the pit chicane; they clash and D’Aste keeps the lead
Lap 3 – D’Aste brushes the wall at T19, Muller takes advantage and steals the lead from him
Lap 4 – Huff overtakes D’Aste for second at T6
Lap 5 – D’Aste is shown the drive-through board for not being in the correct position at the start
Lap 7 – Menu overtakes Tarquini for seventh at T14
Lap 7 – D’Aste pits for the drive-through and drops from third to 13th
Lap 8 – Huff is on the tail of Muller’s car
Lap 9 – Huff tries to overtake Muller on the outside of a chicane; they have a contact, Huff cuts over the kerbs and jumps into the lead
Lap 11 – Bennani punts D’Aste straight at the pit chicane and steals 11th position from him

Pos. Driver Car Time
01 R. Huff Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 11 laps - 23m24.533s
02 Y. Muller Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T +1.797s
03 T. Monteiro SR Leon 1.6T +8.728s
04 N. Michelisz BMW 320 TC +9.752s
05 T. Coronel BMW 320 TC +10.059s
06 A. Menu Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T +11.114s
07 G. Tarquini SR Leon 1.6T +12.849s
08 F. Engstler BMW 320 TC +19.474s
09 D. O’Young Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T +24.147s
10 F. Barth SR Leon 1.6T +25.787s
11 M. Bennani BMW 320 TC +28.161s
12 S. D’Aste BMW 320 TC +30.250s
13 M. Nykjaer SR Leon 1.6T +34.399s
14 A. Dudukalo Seat Leon 2.0 TDI +37.373s
15 P. Oriola SR Leon 1.6T +37.950s
16 Y. Taniguchi Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T +38.735s
17 R. Dahlgren Volvo C30 Drive +39.365s
18 J. Villa BMW 320 TC +41.084s
19 K. Poulsen BMW 320 TC +1m53.447s
Best lap R. Huff Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 2:05.846

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