Rob Huff is looking to carry forward the momentum of his Hungarian victory to the Salzburgring as the World Touring Car Championship heads to Austria for rounds 9 and 10 of the 2013 season.
His victory at the Hungaroring was his first since Shanghai in 2012, his first WTCC victory in a SEAT and the first for ALL-INKL.com Münnich Motorsport since they joined the grid.
His victory in Hungary was the Newmarket based racer move up to third in the drivers’ standings behind Yvan Muller and Gabriele Tarquini.
Looking ahead to the Salzburgring, Huff has turned his attentions to finishing inside the top 10 as the circuit won’t play to the strengths of his SEAT Leon and that he, like all of the other Front Wheel Drive car drivers, will have to be wary of punctures.
The second race of the 2012 WTCC Race of Austria saw 12 drivers suffer punctures – Huff being one of them when he was leading with 1 corner to go – to hand victory to the BMW of Stefano D’Aste.
“We have come from one of the strongest circuits for my SEAT Leon to by far the most challenging,” said Huff. “Managing the tyres is a fine balancing act at the Salzburgring and will make the races a bit of a lottery – It’s all about pushing the boundaries with cambers and tyre pressures.
“Aerodynamic efficiency is also essential, as you spend a lot of time in sixth gear; qualifying will be a slipstreaming contest and I think we can get into Q2 if we get a decent tow.”
He predicts that the cars which were strong at Monza – the Chevrolets and Hondas – will once again be the cars to beat in Austria.
“However, the Chevrolets were strong at Monza earlier this year and that will be exaggerated at the Salzburgring, which has similar characteristics,” explains Huff. “With five Chevys and three Hondas on the grid this year, we’ll certainly have our work cut out to get near the sharp end, but I’m keen to emulate the success we had in Hungary, because I enjoy that winning feeling.”