For the second time in as many weeks the World Touring Car Championship’s Main Race was red-flagged early due to heavy rain, with Honda’s Norbert Michelisz emerging as the winner ahead of Volvo’s Nicky Catsburg.
The race began behind the safety car due to an increase in the rain since the Opening Race, with green flag racing getting underway on lap three.
When racing began, Michelisz looked to be in control of things at the front of the field, as Volvo’s Nicky Catsburg in second offered no threat to the lead in the difficult conditions.
The most significant incident in the short race came on lap four when Honda’s Ryo Michigami, whilst running in sixth, slid off the circuit into the gravel at Turn 9.
The Japanese racer had to be recovered from the gravel by the marshals, effectively ending his race whilst he was running in one of his strongest positions to-date in his WTCC career.
Two laps later, Tom Chilton half-spun his Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroën at the same corner, dropping the Brit from sixth to ninth.
Lap seven then saw the safety car deployed due to the dangerous conditions. The field followed at a slow pace for the next five laps, presumably to enable full points to be awarded after the debacle in China two weeks’ ago, before the race was finally red-flagged and the result counted back to lap nine.
That gave Michelisz the win, ahead of the Volvos of Catsburg and Néstor Girolami, who finished in their starting positions.
Honda’s Esteban Guerrieri took fourth, ahead of Volvo’s championship leader Thed Björk in fifth.
Victory for Michelisz means he is back up to second in the drivers’ championship standings despite the ruling earlier in the weekend to exclude all Honda cars from results in China two weeks’ ago. Michelisz trails Björk by 16.5 points.
Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Mehdi Bennani took class victory in the WTCC Trophy with sixth, ahead of RC Motorsport duo Yann Ehrlacher in seventh and Kevin Gleason in eighth.
John Filippi was ninth in his SLR Citroën, ahead of team-mate Chilton in tenth, who lost valuable points in the WTCC Trophy with his Turn 9 spin.
Michigami was the only retirement of the race, which featured just four laps of green-flag action.
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 9 | 22:17.924 | 2:11.029 | 1 | |
| 2 | 63 | Nicky CATSBURG |  |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 9 | 0.392 | 2:10.990 | 2 | |
| 3 | 61 | Néstor GIROLAMI |  |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 9 | 1.798 | 2:12.518 | 3 | |
| 4 | 86 | T | Esteban GUERRIERI | |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 9 | 3.306 | 2:13.066 | 4 |
| 5 | 62 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 Polestar | 9 | 5.554 | 2:13.404 | 6 | |
| 6 | 25 | T | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 9 | 6.196 | 2:13.760 | 7 |
| 7 | 68 | T | Yann EHRLACHER |  |
RC Motorsport | LADA Vesta WTCC | 9 | 7.063 | 2:13.458 | 8 |
| 8 | 24 | T | Kevin GLEASON |  |
RC Motorsport | LADA Vesta WTCC | 9 | 7.537 | 2:14.280 | 10 |
| 9 | 27 | T | John FILIPPI | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 9 | 7.911 | 2:14.228 | 12 |
| 10 | 3 | T | Tom CHILTON |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 9 | 8.764 | 2:15.096 | 9 |
| 11 | 12 | T | Rob HUFF | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 9 | 9.633 | 2:15.301 | 13 |
| 12 | 11 | Kris RICHARD |  |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 9 | 11.544 | 2:16.635 | 15 | |
| 13 | 9 | T | Tom CORONEL | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 9 | 12.472 | 2:16.911 | 14 |
| 14 | 99 | T | Dániel NAGY | |
Zengő Motorsport Kft | Honda Civic WTCC | 9 | 13.254 | 2:18.275 | 11 |
| 15 | 26 | T | Filipe Clemente DE SOUZA |  |
RC Motorsport | LADA Vesta WTCC | 9 | 14.899 | 2:16.818 | 17 |
| 16 | 66 | T | Zsolt Dávid SZABÓ | |
Zengő Motorsport Kft | Honda Civic WTCC | 9 | 16.640 | 2:16.815 | 16 |
| R | 34 | Ryo MICHIGAMI |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 3 | DNF | 2:15.675 | 5 |