James Nash claimed a maiden World Touring Car Championship race win for himself and the Bamboo Engineering team in Race 2 at the Salzburgring.
After finishing second to fellow Chevrolet driver Michel Nykjaer in Race 1, Nash had the chance to go one better by starting from pole position.
Norbert Michelisz got the jump on Nash from alongside him on the front row of the grid to lead into the first corner, but Nash took advantage of the superior grunt in his Cruze to get ahead of the Honda ace later on the opening lap.
After charging through to third in Race 1, Yvan Muller produced another storming drive, getting up into second with an overtake on Michelisz on the penultimate lap. Nash though had built up a strong enough lead to cross the line ahead.
In third, Michelisz delivered the best result of a tough weekend for Honda, ahead of factory team driver Tiago Monteiro. Close behind was Nykjaer, who came home under pressure from Nash’s team-mate Alex MacDowall.
Pepe Oriola fell backwards to seventh after starting from third, while Gabriele Tarquini was also unable to keep pace in the third Honda, but could at least keep Rob Huff at bay to claim eighth. Just as in Race 1, Tom Coronel finished tenth.
Muller’s two podiums stretch his points tally to 198, with Tarquini his nearest challenger on 118. Nash is now up to third on 108, and leads the Yokohama Trophy by eight points over Nykjaer. The next round takes place at a new addition to the WTCC schedule, the Moscow Raceway, on 9 June.
