Rob Huff says that he is “thrilled” to give LADA its first-ever World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) win in Beijing on Sunday, after the Brit scored a comfortable win in the reverse-grid second race of the day.
Having scored the team’s first-ever podium last time out in Argentina, Huff went one better in China by taking victory from lights-to-flag. The former champion was never challenged for the win either, opening up a comfortable four-second gap over nearest rival Tom Coronel.
“I am on top of the world and so thrilled to give LADA Sport its first ever race win in the FIA World Touring Car Championship,” said Huff. “This is a result of all the hard work and determination that has gone in to the project and it shows that, when you keep pushing anything can be achieved.
“Who would have thought this was doable before Argentina! The team has worked tirelessly and we have taken a significant step in the right direction in recent weeks and months, as the car has genuinely felt fantastic and, now we have the taste for victory, there’s no telling what’s possible!”
LADA also enjoyed season-best results for James Thompson, who finished the two races in seventh and sixth places respectively. Thompson had started third on the reverse-grid second race, but lost two places at the start of the race and failed to recover.
LADA boss Viktor Shapovalov, who has been working with LADA in the WTCC since 2008, admits that the first win has been a long time coming for the Russian marque.
“We have come a long way to achieve this victory and we always believed that LADA would be on the top of the podium,” said an elated Shapovalov. “We are extremely happy, and this victory gives us even more drive and motivation for further success!”
Whilst there were points and success for Thompson and Huff, young Russian Mikhail Kozlovskiy was forced to watch race two from the sidelines after a small fire broke out on his car in parc fermé.
Huff’s win moves him up to tenth position in the championship, whilst Thompson moves up to 14th position.