Muller and Huff share victories in Brazil

Another WTCC weekend turned into a triumph for Chevrolet, as Yvan Muller and Rob Huff shared victories at Curitiba. This means that 13 races out of the 16 held so far have been won by the blue Cruze cars.

In the first race Muller started from pole position and led home Alain Menu and Huff, while Gabriele Tarquini had to settle in fourth position after he trying in vain to disrupt the Chevrolet trio at the start.

The Italian ace was close to perform a miracle in the second race. For a few laps he led, managing to resist Huff’s pressure. Eventually Tarquini had to surrender, losing also second place to Menu. But at least he claimed a well deserved third position ahead of Muller.

The Frenchman has maintained his championship lead and lost only one point to Huff, who trails by 17. Menu is third a further 20 points adrift. But with 220 points still at stake in the remaining four events, anything may happen among them.

In the Manufacturers’ Championship, Chevrolet leads by 243 points and it’s just one step away from a third consecutive world title. Behind the bow tie brand, BMW and SEAT are split by five points only.

Michel Nykjær was the hero of the Yokohama Trophy. On his WTCC comeback and first races with bamboo-engineering, the Dane won the Race 1 and was second in Race 2. He also collected two brilliant overall results: fifth and sixth, better than his Swedish team-mate Rickard Rydell at Monza earlier this year.

Norbert Michelisz won the second race and this was a crucial result that enabled him to jump on top of the trophy standings, five points ahead of Pepe Oriola who received a time penalty in Race 1 and retired with an engine problem in Race 2.

The championship takes now a long summer break, while cars and parts are being shipped to USA. Rounds 17 and 18 will take place at Sonoma on September 23.