Yvan Muller and Rob Huff return to Macau having led the way throughout the 2011 season - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com
The season-long battle for the 2011 World Touring Car Championship drivers' crown between Chevrolet teammates Yvan Muller and Rob Huff comes down to the wire this weekend at the traditional season-closer at Macau.
Muller's victory in the Race 2 last time out at Shanghai allowed the Frenchman to extend his lead over his British rival to 20 points. With 50 points available from the remaining two races, it is by no means over. However, if Muller can score five more points than Huff in Sunday's first race, he will win his third (and second consecutive) world title.
The year so far has been a season of two halves. From the first six race weekends, Huff won six races, while Muller had won just two. Huff's home round of Donington Park proved to be a pivotal weekend though, as Muller took a double win. He's racked up four further wins since, while Huff hasn't scored any victories since his contentious win in Porto after contact with Muller.
Looking at the form of the two drivers in Macau suggests that Huff has a decent chance of overturning the deficit. Muller has yet to win on the street circuit from ten attempts. Huff on the other hand has picked up one win from each of the last three years.
Away from the main title fight, the battle for independent honours also comes down to the final round. Kristian Poulsen leads the Yokohama Trophy, 23 points ahead of Norbert Michelisz. Double points being awarded in Macau means that 43 points are still up for grabs. This means that Michel Nykjaer, Franz Engstler and Javier Villa can still take home the prize.
Yukinori Taniguchi has been forced to withdraw from the event after his bamboo engineering team were unable to fix the damage he sustained in Shanghai.
Click to view Guia Race of Macau Entry List
Schedule (all times GMT):
Thursday
Test: 05:50-06:20
Friday
Practice 1: 00:30-01:00
Practice 2: 04:15-04:45
Qualifying Q1: 07:25-07:55
Qualifying Q2: 08:00-08:15
Sunday
Warm Up: 00:15-00:30
Race 1: 03:10-03:35
Race 2: 04:30-05:00
