Gabriele Tarquini ends winless drought with triumph in Russia

The Opening Race of the FIA World Touring Car Championship at Russia’s Moscow Raceway saw Gabriele Tarquini scythe his way through the field from ninth on the grid to take his first win for LADA Sport Rosneft, with the Russian outfit finally taking their first victory on home soil.

The Italian would take his first WTCC win since Suzuka 2014, finishing 4.782 seconds Main Race pole sitter Nicky Catsburg home in a LADA, having closed a fast on Yvan Muller, overtaking the Frenchman for the lead into the last corner on lap eight.

Yvan Muller would be the best of the Citroëns holding onto the final podium position, with Hugo Valente bringing the last of the LADAs home in fourth.

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A heavy downpour on the initial formation lap saw chaos hit the starting grid, with Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Grégoire Demoustier and Polestar Cyan Racing’s Frederik Ekblom and Thed Björk, opting to pit for a fresh set of wet tyres. Shortly after, Race Control delayed the start for a further 15 minutes to allow all drivers to switch to wets for the race.

Whilst the LADAs were putting their dominance on proceedings, the works and privateer Citroëns of José María López, Tom Chilton and Mehdi Bennani would slip down the order, trying to make the best of the wet condition.

López would still keep his extensive points lead, as the Argentinian would battle hard to keep fifth place. But the Hondas of Tiago Monteiro, Rob Huff and Norbert Michelisz came alive as the track started to dry out in the latter stages.

Monteiro, who started from pole position, would finish 0.711 seconds behind López, with Huff just under a half second behind.

Michelisz, along with ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Coronel, would be handed drive-through penalties on lap 7, as the pair were deemed to have been outside of their correct position on the starting grid.

Münninch Motorsport’s James Thompson would barge his way past Bennani for eighth place just three laps from the end, with the Brit taking the FIA WTCC Trophy win in the Chevrolet Cruze.

Bennani and Michelisz would complete the top ten after another exciting race in the wet, with Campos Racing’s John Filippi and Coronel missing out on points finishes.

It was also another difficult time for Polestar Cyan Racing, as Björk would suffer technical problems in his S60, forcing the Swede to pit on lap 9 to retire. Ekblom would fare better than his teammate, with some progress being made towards finishing in 13th place, just 1.474 seconds behind Coronel.

Race result

POS	NO	CL	DRIVER	NAT	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME/GAP	BEST	GD
1	2		Gabriele TARQUINI		LADA Sport Rosneft	LADA Vesta WTCC	15	29:39.384	1:57.366	9
2	10		Nicky CATSBURG		LADA Sport Rosneft	LADA Vesta WTCC	15	4.782	1:57.084	10
3	68		Yvan MULLER		Citroën Total WTCC	Citroën C-Elysée WTCC	15	16.062	1:58.739	3
4	7		Hugo VALENTE		LADA Sport Rosneft	LADA Vesta WTCC	15	23.683	1:58.497	8
5	37		José María LÓPEZ		Citroën Total WTCC	Citroën C-Elysée WTCC	15	28.092	1:59.252	5
6	18		Tiago MONTEIRO		Honda Racing Team JAS	Honda Civic WTCC	15	28.803	1:58.757	1
7	12		Rob HUFF		Honda Racing Team JAS	Honda Civic WTCC	15	29.266	1:58.651	11
8	15	T	James THOMPSON		ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1	15	30.164	1:58.262	7
9	25	T	Mehdi BENNANI		Sébastien Loeb Racing	Citroën C-Elysée WTCC	15	35.037	1:59.631	2
10	5		Norbert MICHELISZ		Honda Racing Team JAS	Honda Civic WTCC	15	43.985	1:57.834	6
11	27	T	John FILIPPI		Campos Racing	Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1	15	47.000	2:00.409	16
12	9	T	Tom CORONEL		ROAL Motorsport	Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1	15	51.753	1:59.860	4
13	61		Fredrik EKBLOM		Polestar Cyan Racing	Volvo S60 WTCC	15	53.227	1:58.968	13
14	3	T	Tom CHILTON		Sébastien Loeb Racing	Citroën C-Elysée WTCC	15	59.620	2:01.349	12
15	55	T	Ferenc FICZA		Zengő Motorsport	Honda Civic WTCC	15	1:01.302	1:59.419	17
16	11	T	Grégoire DEMOUSTIER		Sébastien Loeb Racing	Citroën C-Elysée WTCC	15	1:04.878	2:00.314	14
R	62		Thed BJÖRK		Polestar Cyan Racing	Volvo S60 WTCC	6	9 Laps	2:02.618	15