Yokohama Trophy: Villa joins Poulsen

The fight for the Yokohama Trophy becomes closer race after race. After the Budapest event, the first five drivers in the classification are covered by only 16 points and Javier Villa has joined Kristian Poulsen in the lead.

The BMW drivers have been dominant in the races at the Hungaroring; Norbert Michelisz and Franz Engstler shared victories, but Villa scored the most points with two second places.

“The first race was very difficult. I was pushed by Michelisz at the first corner and I lost one position. Then I followed Tarquini for all the race, he was slower and finally on the last lap I had to opportunity to overtake him,” said the Spaniard who claimed his first WTCC podium by finishing third overall.

In Race 2 Engstler put in a strong performance on the drying track, recovering from 16th on the grid to sixth just behind Tiago Monteiro. “It has been a great result for me and unexpected, because the weekend had had a bad start. After my accident in Zolder we have struggled to find the balance of the car. Then the rain came, we changed the set up completely and suddenly my car had a much better balance,” Engstler explained.

So far BMW drivers have won seven races out of eighth and only Darryl O’Young’s Chevrolet spoiled this supremacy at Zolder. However, with the arrival of SUNRED’s turbo engine, the drivers in the León cars are set to join the fight for the top positions.