Rob Huff stays in title contention with race two win at Anneau du Rhin

Zengő Motorsport’s Rob Huff took his second FIA World Touring Car Cup victory of the season in race two at Anneau du Rhin, getting the jump on pole-sitter Mehdi Bennani at the start.

Comtoyou Racing’s Bennani had lined up on pole for the partially-reversed grid race, but at the start Huff made a strong start and was past the Audi driver by the fast sweeping Turn 2.

The CUPRA racer then drove a controlled race to notch up his second win of the season, keeping him in overall drivers’ title contention, as the Brit sits third in the standings leaving the event.

Championship leader Mikel Azcona was the man on the move in the race, the Hyundai driver climbing from eighth on the grid up to sixth at the start.

Azcona slotted in behind Comtoyou Racing rival Gilles Magnus initially, but on lap two Magnus passed Team Engstler’s Tiago Monteiro for fourth.

Azcona then passed Monteiro for fifth a lap later, before catching Magnus. The two made some contact on lap nine, with Azcona passing Magnus, but the Belgian came back on him at the penultimate turn to reclaim the position.

Two laps later Azcona completed the pass for good, as Magnus slid through Turn 2 under pressure from the Spaniard, who also slid and made slight contact under braking.

With team-mate Norbert Michelisz running in third at the time, the Hungarian soon dropped back and allowed his BRC Racing colleague through into the final podium place on lap 14.

Michelisz held on to finish in fourth, ahead of Magnus in fifth and Monteiro in sixth.

Münnich Motorsport’s Néstor Girolami took the chequered flag in seventh, lucking into a last-lap penultimate corner incident that gifted him two places.

Esteban Guerrieri had been running in the position for most of the race, ahead of Comtoyou’s Tom Coronel, but going into the second-to-last turn the Audi driver clattered into the Honda ahead, pushing both off the road and allowing Girolami into seventh.

Just minutes earlier, Guerrieri’s Münnich engineer had told him not to drop back to give title hopeful Girolami the place, but in the end the forced change was not required as Coronel took the action for them.

Race one winner Nathanaël Berthon struggled to make much progress but finished in eighth, with Team Engstler’s Attila Tassi and Guerrieri completing the top ten.

Dániel Nagy was two laps down after pitting for new tyres after 11 laps. The Zengő driver had been running in last place anyway.

In the championship, Azcona has built a tally of 241 points and is ahead of Girolami (206), Huff (187), Magnus (165) and Berthon (160).

Following their withdrawal for the rest of the season, Cyan Racing drivers are dropping out of the top ten, with Santiago Urrutia currently ranked in sixth, over 100 points from the lead.

Race result

POS	NO	CL	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	BEST	GD
1	79			Rob HUFF	Zengő Motorsport Services Kft	CUPRA Leon Competición TCR	18	26:53.763	1:28.790	2
2	25			Mehdi BENNANI	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021	18	0.896	1:28.848	1
3	96			Mikel AZCONA	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	18	1.114	1:28.334	8
4	5			Norbert MICHELISZ	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	18	3.990	1:28.660	3
5	16			Gilles MAGNUS	Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021	18	4.936	1:28.764	6
6	18			Tiago MONTEIRO	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR	18	7.591	1:28.999	5
7	29			Néstor GIROLAMI	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR	18	11.716	1:29.118	10
8	17			Nathanaël BERTHON	Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021	18	12.289	1:29.003	9
9	9			Attila TASSI	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR	18	12.533	1:29.211	11
10	86			Esteban GUERRIERI	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR	18	13.817	1:29.058	7
11	33			Tom CORONEL	Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021	18	19.206	1:29.017	4
12	99			Dániel NAGY	Zengő Motorsport Services Kft	CUPRA Leon Competición TCR	16	+ 2 LAPS	1:29.360	12