And there were celebrations too for LADA Sport ROSNEFT after Rob Huff delivered a breakthrough podium in the second race, much to the delight of the home fans.

With defending world champion José María López serving a drive-through penalty for a jumped-start in race two, Muller’s opening race triumph and sixth place in the second counter means the four-time WTCC champion has narrowed López’s title advantage to 35 points heading to the halfway point of the season in Slovakia from 19-21 June.

Elsewhere, Tom Chilton and Norbert Michelisz shared the Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy honours, while there was further joy for Honda when Gabriele Tarquini took third behind López in race one, which began with four WTCC champions filling the top four starting positions and four manufacturers in the top five.

FIA President Jean Todt was also in attendance and joined the WTCC drivers for a photo call to promote the FIA Action for Road Safety #SIGNTHEPLEDGE campaign.

RACE ONE ROUND-UP: MULLER ENDS LÓPEZ WINNING RUN WITH FINE DRIVE
Starting from pole position, four-time world champion Yvan Muller drove impeccably to win for the third time in 2015 and the 44^th time since he began his WTCC career to end Citroën team-mate José María López’s sequence of first race wins, which dated back to October 2014. While López shadowed Muller’s every move, he was not able to unsettle the Frenchman and took second place instead with Gabriele Tarquini third for Honda ahead of LADA driver Rob Huff. Tom Chilton scored Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy honours in sixth behind Ma Qing Hua. While Huff was elated with fourth, it could have been even better for the Briton had he been able to find his way past the resolute Tarquini, who scored his first podium of the season. Norbert Michelisz finished seventh with Tiago Monteiro overtaking Sébastien Loeb for eighth and Jaap van Lagen coming home in 10^th. In an eventful race, Tom Coronel lost ground in a first-lap clash with fellow Dutchman van Lagen, which resulted in a high-speed trip through a gravel trap for the ROAL Motorsport driver and a reprimand for van Lagen. Mehdi Bennani was delayed following contact with Stefano D’Aste, who received a 30-second time penalty as a result. Youngsters Grégoire Demoustier and John Filippi also came together.

RACE TWO ROUND-UP: MONTEIRO WINS THRILLER AS HUFF SHINES FOR LADA 
Honda’s Tiago Monteiro returned to winning ways in the WTCC for the first time since 2013 following an action-packed race two with the Moscow Raceway again living up to its reputation for producing thrilling World Touring Car Championship racing. Starting from pole, Monteiro led throughout the reverse-grid 16-lap counter as a dramatic race unfolded behind. Rob Huff charged through from seventh on the grid to finish second to hand LADA its best WTCC finish of 2015 after demoting Norbert Michelisz with a bold manoeuvre that the Hungarian conceded he was powerless to defend. Huff also posted the race’s fastest lap to provide more proof of LADA’s continued upturn in form. Nicky Catsburg marked an impressive WTCC debut in fourth for LADA having started second with Ma Qing Hua fifth – and the best Citroën runner – following several battles for on-track position, most notably with Sébastien Loeb. Yvan Muller took sixth after he was embroiled in a close fight with José María López only for the Argentine to be ordered to serve a drive-through penalty for a jumped start, which left him languishing in 12^th and out of the points at the finish. Hugo Valente and Tom Chilton were eighth and ninth respectively having fought hard with a number of Citroën drivers. Tom Coronel completed the top 10, one place ahead of Rickard Rydell, who was back on WTCC duty following three months out due to illness. Gabriele Tarquini crashed into retirement following contact with Catsburg. Van Lagen stopped with damaged front suspension while Mehdi Bennani also failed to go the distance.

YOKOHAMA DRIVERS’ TROPHY: CHILTON AND MICHELISZ SHARE THE SUCCESS
Tom Chilton (Chevrolet) and Norbert Michelisz (Honda) took a Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy win apiece. But while they celebrated their respective triumphs, it was a frustrating weekend for Mehdi Bennani, who has slipped to third in the title battle after retiring from race two. Hugo Valente scored a podium double for Campos Racing. Tom Coronel, Stefano D’Aste and Grégoire Demoustier finished in the points in both races but John Filippi wasn’t quite so fortunate, retiring from the opening race before completing the finishers in race two.

RACE WINNER QUOTES (full transcript coming soon at media.fiawtcc.com)
Yvan Muller (race one winner): “I have the best car on the track, the Citroën car is a fantastic car and even with the weight we can stay in the front but only by a little. I did a good start and then I pushed hard for the first three laps and then I just saved a little bit the tyres while still pushing. Step-by-step I was able to pull out a bit on Pechito and it was good to save my tyres and go to reach the end of the race with a victory. It was a great race but a long race. I was asking my pit board when it was the end of race because inside it felt long. It might not look like I was sweating on the outside but I was definitely sweating on the inside.”

Tiago Monteiro (race two winner): “It’s been way too long [waiting for this] so I’m very pleased for myself, of course, but also for the whole team. We’ve been fighting and working like crazy like everybody has to so all these results are a huge boost and a huge congratulations to everybody. I didn’t do an amazing qualifying and wasn’t confident at all but the race pace was good and the hot weather also played in our favour a bit. I was able to manage the race when you have a good start and you just control. But it wasn’t easy with pressure from Norbi for the first few laps. Then there was this yellow car coming very quickly towards the end. Rob was very, very fast in the middle of the race and had caught up. And I had to push really hard for the last six laps, but the car behaved very well and I’m very happy with that but we need to keep pushing. I’m happy it was a good race at the back with a lot of fights, which is good for the show and thanks to everybody for being here.”

RACE RESULTS
All results are available to download at http://media.fiawtcc.com/race-of-russia/

RACE FACTS
Race one pole position (presented by DHL): Yvan Muller (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)
Race one Yokohama Performer: Yvan Muller (Citroën C-Elysée WTCC)
Race two pole position (presented by DHL): Tiago Monteiro (Honda Civic WTCC)
Race two Yokohama Performer: Rob Huff (LADA Vesta)

CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS
Provisional standings are available to download at http://media.fiawtcc.com/statistics/

NEXT RACE
WTCC Race of Slovakia, Slovakia Ring, 19-21 June.