Rob Huff signed off his campaign in the ALL-INKL.com Münnich Motorsport SEAT Leon with his second win of the season in the final race at Macau, his sixth success of the Guia circuit.
Having been inside the top 5 in all of the practice sessions, Huff qualified fourth for the penultimate round of the season and set the tone for race day by finishing fastest in the morning warm up session.
Round 23 saw the 2012 Champion secure a podium finish from fourth on the grid – his task was made slightly easier when Gabriele Tarquini failed to make the start – and he hassled Tarquini’s team-mate Tiago Monteiro all the way to the end of the nine lap encounter.
Round 24, the final race of the season saw Huff line up seventh on the grid and he was up to third position by Lisboa, before the first of two stoppages due to multi-car accidents halted the Brits progress.
Huff was running third when the second stoppage was called for – he had passed Tom Chilton and James Nash to sit in the podium positions when Chilton stopped out on circuit and the local guest drivers failed to slow down for the yellow flags and ploughed into the back of the cars ahead of them.
The third restart left the depleted grid with four racing laps left and Huff take second from fellow Brit James Thompson before catching race leader Tom Coronel at Lisboa.
The following lap, Huff made his move on Coronel at Reservoir and despite a slight tap under braking for Lisboa, held the position and scampered away from the chasing pack.
Huff held on for his second victory of the season, his sixth at Macau and the end results promoted him to fourth overall in the drivers’ Championship. He was the top scoring driver on the streets of Macau with a 42 point weekend.
“It being such a stop-start race, it’s always tough but you kind of accept it as part of the racing here in Macau,” said Huff. “I think it’s where experience is helpful, as you have to learn to accept the situation and relax. I started seventh and finished first, but passed 13 people in total. Figure that out!
“There were some heart-in-the-mouth moments, but the guys I was battling with are all fair racers and we all have respect for this place. To end my season with ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport with a race win and a third place is just incredible and to get fourth in the standings is the perfect way to finish. I love this place and results like this give you confidence going into the winter. We truly deserved the win today,” Huff concluded.