Slovakia: Tarquini and Dudukalo finish 1-2!

The two SEAT León cars of Gabriele Tarquini and his Lukoil Racing team-mate Aleksei Dudukalo scored a 1-2 in the first of the day’s two WTCC races at the Slovakia Ring, with the Chevrolet Cruze of Alain Menu in third place.

Pole-sitter Norbert Michelisz in the Zengö Motorsport BMW 320 TC was first into Turn 1 on the opening lap, with Tarquini having passed Dudukalo to mount an early challenge to Michelisz. Contact between the leading pair on lap 3 allowed both the SEAT cars to pass the BMW, with heavier contact between Yvan Muller and Michelisz on the following lap meant the Hungarian driver would eventually finish in sixth place. Muller, meanwhile, incurred a drive-through penalty for the move.

Pepe Oriola in another SEAT moved into second place on lap 6 when Dudukalo ran wide at T13, but Oriola’s race ended two laps later when a front flat tyre saw an excursion into the gravel at T2.

Despite promising performances in qualifying, neither of the Team AON Ford Focus cars completed the first lap; Tom Chilton went off on the very first corner while James Nash made it as far as Turn 8 before retiring following contact with Tiago Monteiro’s SEAT and the Chevrolet of Robert Huff.

In the Yokohama Trophy, Dudukalo scored the maximum 10 points, with Alberto Cerqui finishing second and Stefano D’Aste third.

Key moments
Start - Michelisz is first into T1, ahead of Tarquini; Chilton off at T1
Lap 1 - Monteiro, Huff and Nash make contact and retire
Lap 2 - Muller passes D’Aste for 4th
Lap 3 – a contact between Michelisz and Tarquini allows Tarquini and Dudukalo to pass; Oriola and Men pass D’Aste who drops from 5th to 7th
Lap 4 - Contact between Dudukalo and Michelisz; Heavier contact between Muller and Michelisz
Lap 5 - Muller is given a drive through and dropps to 14th
Lap 6 - Dudukalo runs wide at T13, allowing Oriola to take 2nd
Lap 8 - Oriola into the gravel at T2; Menu is up to 3rd
Lap 9 - Contact between Wéber and MacDowall, the later drops to 13th
Lap 10 – Boardman finishes 9th and scores his first points; Muller passes Bennani for 11th