Chevrolet secured a double 1, 2 finishes during rounds 21 and 22 of the 2012 World Touring Car Championship, with Rob Huff leading the Championship with 2 races left.
Huff secured a second place finish in round 21 and took his fifth victory of the campaign from seventh on the grid in round 22 to open up a 35 point advantage over his nearest rival.
“This was a fantastic weekend for the team and a fantastic weekend for me. A 2nd and 1st is just what I needed. It’s much more than I could dream of this morning when I woke up,” explained Huff.
“Race 1 was pretty lean. I took second position at the start and maintained it until the end, while in Race 2; I had a pretty scary moment when the lights went off for the start. My clutch got stuck and I almost stalled, but I quickly found the right pace again after a couple of corners. I overtook Yvan and Alain when they made contact.
“I now have a 23-point lead in the championship going to Macau, which is really what I had hoped for. Macau is a place where I’ve always been quite competitive, so I feel very encouraged,” concluded the British driver.
Having arrived in China as the outsider for the 2012 crown, Alain Menu took a dominant win in the first race before finishing second in race 2. He had been on for a double win before contact which spun him out of the lead.
“Race 1 was perfect. I kept my teammates at bay at the start and first corner, and then controlled the remainder of the race. With Yvan out of the race, I reduced the gap in the championship considerably,” summed up the Swiss driver.
“Race 2 was a different story. I was leading comfortably until Yvan made contact with me; the only thing I can say at this stage is that unfortunately, my chances for the championship ahead of Macau have been significantly reduced.”
Yvan Muller arrived in China as the joint Championship leader but a double no score in the two races has left him third in the Championship, 41 points behind Huff and the outsider for the title heading to the streets of Macau.
The opening race saw Muller retire after an incident with Norbert Michelisz and the contact from the BMW 320TC plus others meant that the right rear suspension was damaged.
Having started ninth on the race 2 grid, Muller worked with the other Chevrolets to climb the order but on the eighth lap, he mistimed his braking for the first corner and hit Menu, a move which ultimately was penalized as he was demoted to 13th from second.
“I cannot say this was a good weekend. Firstly, I lost the leadership in the championship to Rob and now find myself 23 points behind him, “explains the triple Champion.
“In Race 1, I was touched from behind by Michelisz and went sideways before being knocked about by many other cars as chaos reigned in the group behind me. Unfortunately, my right rear wheel was damaged and my race ended there.
“In Race 2, I was right behind Alain when we made contact in a braking zone. I am really sorry as it wasn’t intentional.”
“We now go to Macau with a completely different situation. We’ll see what happens,” concludes the Frenchman.