Honda’s Tiago Monteiro took victory in the Main World Touring Car Championship race on the streets of Vila Real in Portugal, ahead of Citroën’s Yvan Muller and Honda team-mates Norbert Michelisz and Rob Huff.
In a processional race, Monteiro claimed his second win of the season to move into second overall in the drivers’ championship standings. Importantly for the Portuguese racer, it is the third time he has won his home race in the WTCC.
There were no changes in the top six order during the race, leaving Citroën’s Muller to take second and remain in contention for the runner-up spot in the championship, with just ten points separating him from Monteiro.
Honda’s Michelisz took the final podium position, although Huff tried his hardest in the closing laps to deny his team-mate.
José María López had been lapping in close proximity to the leading quartet for much of the race, but the points leader dropped back in the closing laps and took fifth, ahead of Cyan Racing’s Thed Björk in sixth.
Nicky Catsburg was the leading LADA in seventh, having got the jump on Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Mehdi Bennani at the start of the race, albeit with slight contact between the pair. Bennani went on to finish in eighth and claim the Independent Trophy class win.
The second LADA of Hugo Valente took ninth, with the Frenchman making an excellent start to go from 13th on the grid to ninth through the first sequence of turns.
The second SLR Citroën of Tom Chilton took the final point for tenth.
Münnich Motorsport’s James Thompson once again only just missed out on the points, taking his second 11th-place finish in a row.
Race one winner Tom Coronel lost out on any chance of points when he made a jump start, leaving the ROAL Motorsport driver to finish down in 16th position and a lap down after serving his drive-through penalty.
The second Cyan Racing Volvo of series returnee Robert Dahlgren pulled off the track after just one lap with technical issues, whilst rookie Dániel Nagy stopped a couple of laps later.
Race result
POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
1 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 14 | 27:53.321 | 1:59.180 | 1 | ||
2 | 68 | Yvan MULLER | Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 14 | 0.821 | 1:59.214 | 2 | ||
3 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 14 | 2.181 | 1:59.095 | 3 | ||
4 | 12 | Rob HUFF | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 14 | 3.402 | 1:58.385 | 4 | ||
5 | 37 | José María LÓPEZ | Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 14 | 16.164 | 1:58.724 | 5 | ||
6 | 62 | Thed BJÖRK | Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 14 | 17.374 | 1:59.750 | 6 | ||
7 | 10 | Nicky CATSBURG | LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 14 | 17.904 | 2:00.110 | 9 | ||
8 | 25 | T | Mehdi BENNANI | Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 14 | 21.614 | 1:59.838 | 7 | |
9 | 7 | Hugo VALENTE | LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 14 | 23.054 | 2:00.041 | 13 | ||
10 | 3 | T | Tom CHILTON | Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 14 | 23.364 | 2:00.271 | 8 | |
11 | 15 | T | James THOMPSON | ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 14 | 28.125 | 2:00.021 | 12 | |
12 | 11 | T | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 14 | 33.547 | 2:00.255 | 16 | |
13 | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI | LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 14 | 34.675 | 2:00.457 | 17 | ||
14 | 27 | T | John FILIPPI | Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 14 | 47.223 | 2:00.995 | 14 | |
15 | 55 | T | Ferenc FICZA | Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 14 | 47.654 | 2:00.568 | 15 | |
16 | 9 | T | Tom CORONEL | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 13 | 1 Lp. | 2:01.250 | 10 | |
R | 99 | T | Dániel NAGY | Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 3 | 11 Lp. | 2:07.783 | 18 | |
R | 63 | Robert DAHLGREN | Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 1 | 13 Lp. | – | 11 |