Porto, Race 2: Controversial move gives Huff the win

Huff cut over the kerbs and jumpes into the lead

Porto, Race 2: Controversial move gives Huff the win
Author: Franck Drui
3 July 2011 - 19:10

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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