Rob Huff says he is ‘blown away’ to have picked up his ninth win on the streets of Macau, after claiming his first win of the season in the main World Touring Car Championship race on Sunday.
Huff, who had put his Citroën C-Elysée on pole position for the main race, led from lights-to-flag, despite early pressure from the Honda of Norbert Michelisz.
It marks an impressive ninth victory in all competitions at Macau for Huff, who was also victorious in TCR machinery two years’ ago.
It nearly didn’t happen for Huff, though, who picked up damage in Saturday’s Opening Race when Michelisz blocked the track in front of him and he had nowhere to go.
“First of all this is for my ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport team,” said Huff. “At midnight last night we weren’t going to be racing today pretty much but the boys did just the most amazing job to fix the car.
“It’s just testament to everything they’ve done this year. We’ve had some rotten luck, but Macau has always been good to me. It’s always been lucky for me and this weekend it’s been lucky for the team in the Main Race so huge, huge thanks to them.
“Nine wins in Macau… I’m a bit blown away myself by that. To be the most winning driver ever is something special. I don’t know what it is with this place, it just seems to work, we seem to get very luck here. Maybe it’s because I stay out of the casinos and keep my luck on track.”
Huff had to deal with challenging conditions on the notorious Circuito da Guia, as rain just before the race reduced the grip levels.
“The first two laps were so, so difficult; I’ve raced here for 14 years now and that’s only the second or third time we’ve had a wet session and we’ve never had a wet race.
“I was the first guy to arrive in every corner. Norbi was very kind with me for the first couple of laps braking into Lisboa. He’s got a championship to think about and he was thinking about that so thanks to Norbi for being very kind.
“And I saw Tom [Chilton] putting some pressure on him, which helped me so well-done Tom. It’s just an amazing day.”
Huff’s win also keeps him in contention in the WTCC Trophy for independents, where he is just eight points behind Chilton heading to the season finale in Qatar.