Race 1 - Huff beats Muller in three turns

Everything was decided in a few hundredths metres, with Rob Huff taking the outside line at Turn 1 to stay alongside his team-mate and pole sitter Yvan Muller. This enabled the Briton to keep the inside line at Turn 3 and jump into the lead for good.

From that moment on the leading duo increased their margin and maintained the positions, leaving the others to battle for the places from third downwards.
Alain Menu claimed the third spot on the podium, managing to beat the BMW cars of Tom Coronel and Kristian Poulsen who finished fourth and fifth, with the Dane emerging as the winner of the Yokohama Trophy.

Robert Dahlgren finished sixth, the best result for him and the Volvo, after losing a couple of places at the start when he run wide at Turn 3.

The most exciting battle was immediately behind, with Darryl O’Young beating by inches Norbert Michelisz (who recovered from 19th on the grid to 8th at the end) and with Javier Villa stealing ninth place from Michel Nykjær at the last corner.

Key moments
Start – Tarquini is squeezed between O’Young and Nykjær; they clash
Lap 1 – Huff and Muller negotiate Turn 1 side-to-side; Huff takes the lead at Turn 3
Lap 1 – Dahlgren goes wide at turn 3; Poulsen overtakes Menu for fourth
Lap 1 – Tarquini and Barth pit for repairs
Lap 2 – Michelisz has recovered from 19th on the grid to 11th
Lap 3 – Menu retakes fourth from Poulsen; Huff and Muller increase the leading margin
Lap 5 – Dahlgren overtakes O’Young for sixth; Michelisz overtakes Villa for ninth
Lap 8 – Menu overtakes Coronel for third
Lap 9 – Michelisz overtakes Nykjær for eighth
Lap 10 – Bennani and Engstler tangle while fighting for 11th; Engstler spins
Lap 10 – Villa overtakes Nykjær for ninth