Rob Huff enjoyed a pair of “fantastic” World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) races in Thailand, as his LADA team-mates Nicky Catsburg and Nicolas Lapierre suffered a pair of non-finishes.
Huff had to start both races from the back of the grid after he had his qualifying times disallowed for a technical infringement, in which the front and rear side windows were found to be below the minim thickness permitted.
From the back of the grid in both races, Huff fought through the field to finish in sixth on two occasions, benefitting from the demise and exclusion of several rivals.
Despite the high attrition rate, Huff still found himself having to battle through the field, in particular in race one when he caught and passed four drivers and stayed out of the trouble which befell his competitors.
Amongst those who retired early on, however, were team-mates Catsburg and Lapierre, who made contact with each other when Lapierre turned in on Tom Coronel at the first corner and bounced into team-mate Catsburg.
In race two Huff repeated his race one result, thanks to the post-race exclusion of original race winner Tiago Monteiro.
Neither Catsburg nor Lapierre took the start due to the damage incurred to their Vestas in race one.
“Both races were fantastic,” exclaimed Huff. “I really enjoyed the first race; I had a great fight with Gabriele Tarquini and a few other racers.
“Race two was a little bit harder, the car felt different as the temperatures came down and it was difficult to fight as hard as we wanted, but we still could make some good positions obviously. I made a very a good start, but of course, the start from the back of the grid is not fantastic.
“All in all, the car was fast in the races, and to come from last place to 6th and 7th [later sixth] is really good and score some solid points is really good. I am happy!
“Overtaking is never easy, but my team gave me fantastic car for the race. The perfect setting for the race allowed me to overtake.”
As a result of his efforts, Huff moves up to eighth in the championship standings and is the leading Brit, leapfrogging compatriot Tom Chilton to be seven points clear heading to the season finale.