LADA made history by taking its first ever win in the FIA WTCC.
And there were a lot of red flags waving this afternoon at Goldenport Park to celebrate a much-awaited moment.
It happened thanks to Rob Huff, who made a perfect race, making good an excellent use of pole position in the reversed grid and keeping control of everything during the entire race. The Brit was escorted from the beginning by Tom Coronel, who completed the excellent weekend of ROAL Motorsport, while Sébastien Loeb completed the podium, ahead of José María López, who grabbed some extra points over Yvan Muller in the title fight.
James Thompson, 6th, gave LADA another handful of points, while Franz Engstler took another victory in TC2T recovering from a spin at mid-race.
Key moments
— Grid – A drive-through is inflicted on Bennani for an unauthorized intervention on the grid. Münnich, Borković and Kozlovskiy are not taking the start
— Start - Huff takes a good start, controlling Coronel, as opposed to Thompson, who is immediately passed by Loeb and Michelisz
— Lap 1- Huff is leading, followed by Coronel, Loeb, Michelisz, Thompson, López and Morbidelli
— Lap 2 – Monteiro passes Ma for 12th
— Lap 6 – Chilton passes Muller for 8th, while Thompson closes on Michelisz for 4th
— Lap 9 – Engstler spins and is passed by Filippi for the lead of the TC2T class
— Lap 10 – López passes Thompson for 10th, right behind Chilton and Morbidelli
— Lap 14 – As the group gets compact behind Thompson, there is a nice fight between Morbidelli and Chilton, with Muller and Tarquini right behind
— Lap 16 – López passes Michelisz for 4th
— Lap 17 – Huff’s advantage is 4 seconds
— Lap 18 – Engstler retakes TC2T lead from Filippi; big fight for 12th between Ma and Monteiro
— Lap 25 – Morbidelli passes Chilton for 7th, while Ma is ahead of Monteiro
— Lap 26 – Coronel closes on Huff in the final phase, but the Brit has everything under control, for the greatest joy of the LADA Sport team
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rob HUFF | LADA Granta 1.6T | 26 laps - 28m52.502 |
| 2 | Tom CORONEL | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | +0.766 |
| 3 | Sébastien LOEB | Citroen C-Elysee WTCC | +3.072 |
| 4 | José Maria LOPEZ | Citroen C-Elysee WTCC | +3.102 |
| 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ | Honda Civic WTCC | +8.673 |
| 6 | James THOMPSON | LADA Granta 1.6T | +9.938 |
| 7 | Gianni MORBIDELLI | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | +11.111 |
| 8 | Tom CHILTON | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | +11.553 |
| 9 | Yvan MULLER | Citroen C-Elysee WTCC | +12.463 |
| 10 | Gabriele TARQUINI | Honda Civic WTCC | +12.805 |
| 11 | Hugo VALENTE | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | +19.571 |
| 12 | Qing Hua MA | Citroen C-Elysee WTCC | +21.714 |
| 13 | Tiago MONTEIRO | Honda Civic WTCC | +24.261 |
| 14 | Franz ENGSTLER | BMW E90 320 TC | +1 lap |
| 15 | John FILIPPI | Seat Leon WTCC | +1 lap |
| 16 | Mehdi BENNANI | Honda Civic WTCC | DNF |
| 17 | Filipe DE SOUZA | BMW E90 320 TC | DNF |
| 18 | Mikhail KOZLOVSKIY | LADA Granta 1.6T | DNS |
| 19 | Dusan BORKOVIC | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | DNS |
| 20 | René MUNNICH | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | DNS |