Mehdi Bennani was able to manage reported brake issues and claim a fourth World Touring Car Championship career victory at the Hungaroring ahead of Volvo’s Nicky Catsburg.
The duo jumped pole-sitter Rob Huff’s Citroen C-Elysee off the start along with the sister Volvo S60 of Nestor Girolami.
The two team-mates spread out in an attempt to box Huff in behind heading into the right-hander at turn 2, but contact to the rear of Catsburg sent him across into Girolami, forcing the latter to retire and bring out the safety car.
Huff’s challenge for honours was then curtailed after officials handed him a drive-through penalty for his role in the incident.
He made a sweeping move to claim the lead from Bennani through the fast sequence of corners in the middle of the lap, before immediately heading for the pit lane to serve his penalty.
That left Bennani and Catsburg to dice for the victory, with the Moroccan citing brake issues over the radio as circuit and ambient temperatures continued to rise.
Though Catsburg came close, he was ultimately unable to prevent Bennani taking a slender win by 0.654 seconds.
Tom Chilton backed up a strong weekend with another visit to the podium in third, having escaped the clutches of recovering home hero Norbert Michelisz’s Honda Civic WTCC at half-distance.
Michelisz’s team-mate, Opening Race winner Tiago Monteiro, completed the top five, with championship rival Thed Bjork seventh behind Esteban Guerreri.
Yann Ehrlacher, Tom Coronel and the recovering Huff completed the top ten.
Rd 6
Race result
POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
1 | 25 | T | Mehdi BENNANI | Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 17 | 33:21.822 | 1:51.047 | 2 | |
2 | 63 | Nicky CATSBURG | Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 17 | 0.654 | 1:51.065 | 4 | ||
3 | 3 | T | Tom CHILTON | Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 17 | 3.553 | 1:51.384 | 7 | |
4 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 17 | 7.309 | 1:51.337 | 6 | ||
5 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 17 | 9.532 | 1:51.614 | 9 | ||
6 | 86 | T | Esteban GUERRIERI | Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 17 | 10.875 | 1:51.566 | 3 | |
7 | 62 | Thed BJÖRK | Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 17 | 11.865 | 1:51.475 | 8 | ||
8 | 68 | T | Yann EHRLACHER | RC Motorsport | LADA Vesta WTCC | 17 | 14.547 | 1:51.903 | 11 | |
9 | 9 | T | Tom CORONEL | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 17 | 20.783 | 1:51.851 | 13 | |
10 | 12 | T | Rob HUFF | ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 17 | 21.212 | 1:50.478 | 1 | |
11 | 27 | T | John FILIPPI | Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 17 | 28.110 | 1:52.167 | 10 | |
12 | 24 | T | Kevin GLEASON | RC Motorsport | LADA Vesta WTCC | 17 | 31.760 | 1:52.550 | 15 | |
13 | 34 | Ryo MICHIGAMI | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 17 | 36.852 | 1:52.327 | 12 | ||
14 | 8 | T | Aurélien PANIS | Zengő Motorsport Kft | Honda Civic WTCC | 17 | 51.021 | 1:52.940 | 14 | |
15 | 99 | T | Dániel NAGY | Zengő Motorsport Kft | Honda Civic WTCC | 11 | 6 Laps | 1:53.511 | 16 | |
R | 61 | Néstor GIROLAMI | Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 0 | DNF | N/A | 5 |