Yokohama Trophy competitors have been extremely competitive in the fourth event of the 2103 WTCC that took place Sunday at Budapest’s Hungaroring.
Mehdi Bennani in the Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC claimed a double victory in the Trophy, but also fought for the overall victory in Race 2, eventually collecting a second place behind Rob Huff. His second podium and best result ever in WTCC.
“It was a great result for the me and the team. The car was really good on this track, and we knew that the front-wheel driven cars might have problems after half distance. However, the BMW is slower on the straight and when I saw the safety car, I knew it would be difficult to keep Huff behind. All I could do was to follow him and be ready to benefit from his mistakes. But he didn’t make any...” said Bennani.
However, the drivers who actually capitalized out of the Hungarian weekend were bamboo-engineering’s James Nash and Alex MacDowall who both scored solid points for the Trophy and the Drivers’ Championship.
MacDowall claimed a third place overall in Race 2, his second podium this season and moved up to second in the Yokohama Trophy standings. “Despite a disappointing qualifying it was important to finish race one and capitalise on the pole of race 2. I was pleased with 3rd but still have more work to do on my starts,” he said.
With a fourth position overall in Race 2, Nash consolidated his Yokohama Trophy lead and maintained his fifth place in the Drivers’ Championship; he commented: “I’m still getting to grips with the car but the second race was a great battle, I’m really proud that I kept both Coronel and Muller at bay to get a fourth.”
The Yokohama Trophy is currently led by Nash who has a six-point margin over his team-mate, while Nika Racing’s Michel Nykjær lies one further point adrift.