WTCC

Muller Recovers From Spin To Take Amazing Second Win

3 Mins read
Yvan Muller and Gabriele Tarquini - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

Muller heads into the first chicane backwards on his way to victory. Tarquini's race ended here. - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

Yvan Muller clinched a double victory in the World Touring Car Championship's opening round of the season at Monza as he led home a Chevrolet 1-2-3, despite facing backwards at one point after contact from teammate Rob Huff.

The trio of factory Chevrolets had started the race from towards the back of the top ten due to the reverse grid, although their cause was helped by the absence of two SEATs that had been due to lineup ahead of them.

Aleksei Dudukalo should have started on the front row alongside polesitter Norbert Michelisz, but the Russian's Lukoil SEAT came to a halt on his out lap from the pits. Tuenti Racing Team's Pepe Oriola was due to be directly behind him on the fourth grid slot, but he had problems getting his car started and ended up beginning the race from pitlane.

This made life easy for Michelisz at the start who held onto the lead, with Tom Coronel making a fast getaway from the standing start in his rear-wheel drive BMW from the fifth grid slot, jumping ahead of Alex MacDowall's bamboo Chevrolet. Stefano D'Aste also made a fast start in his BMW to beat the factory Chevrolet drivers into the first chicane in fourth place overall.

Muller made a move on teammate Alain Menu as they began the second lap, with Huff also trying to make use of Muller's slipstream. As Muller braked, Huff hit him in the rear and the Frenchman lost control of his car – performing a full 360 degree spin. As a result of not having to go through the chicane he actually maintained his position ahead of Menu and Huff.

Gabriele Tarquini also got caught up in the incident, also making contact with Huff from behind as they all checked up under breaking. He came to a halt on the inside of the chicane with his race over as the Chevrolets escaped unharmed.

D'Aste took third from MacDowall on lap four, with the Brit then allowing the similar machines of Muller, Menu and Huff to go by. D'Aste soon had to surrender his position to Muller, who then took second place from Coronel on lap six. Coronel fought back at the start of the following lap, working his way around the outside at the first chicane. Muller soon had the place back again, just as leader Michelisz struck an unusual obstacle, in the form of a pigeon on the racing line.

The impact appeared to slow the Hungarian down, as he not only lost the lead to Muller but slumped all the way down to eighth by the checkered flag.

Menu and Huff followed Muller across the line for the brand's first podium lockout of the season, though Coronel was very close behind in fourth.

D'Aste took a very popular home win in the Yokohama Trophy as well as fifth overall, just ahead of Franz Engstler and MacDowall, who completed a strong debut weekend in the WTCC. Behind Michelisz in eighth was Alberto Cerqui – another rookie who scored points in both races – and Rickard Rydell.

Pos Driver Team Car Time/Gap
1 Yvan Muller Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 10 laps in 20:07.643
2 Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 0.307
3 Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 0.613
4 Tom Coronel ROAL BMW 320 TC 0.993
5 Stefano D’Aste Wiechers BMW 320 TC 6.125
6 Franz Engstler Engstler BMW 320 TC 6.705
7 Alex MacDowall Bamboo Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 7.247
8 Norbert Michelisz Zengo BMW 320 TC 10.238
9 Alberto Cerqui ROAL BMW 320 TC 12.663
10 Rickard Rydell Chevrolet Sweden Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 14.066
11 Gabor Weber Zengo BMW 320 TC 14.202
12 Pepe Oriola Tuenti SEAT Leon WTCC 14.575
13 James Nash Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 18.279
14 Mehdi Bennani Proteam BMW 320 TC 18.775
15 Andrea Barlesi Sunred SEAT Leon TDi 24.880
16 Tom Chilton Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 25.586
17 Isaac Tutumlu Proteam BMW 320 TC 35.129
18 Tiago Monteiro Tuenti SEAT Leon TDi +1 lap
19 Pasquale Di Sabatino Bamboo Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T +2 laps
Not Classified
Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil SEAT Leon WTCC 1 lap
Charles Ng Engstler BMW 320 TC 1 lap
Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil SEAT Leon WTCC 0 laps
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About author
Peter joined the TCF team in September 2010 and covers GP2 and GP3 along with WTCC and Formula Two. You can find him on twitter at @PeteAllen_
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