Alain Menu claimed a lights to flag victory starting from pole position and resisting the pressure from local hero Norbert Michelisz.
In the first laps Michelisz, cheered by the huge crowd, was able to close on the Chevrolet man; however as laps went by Menu seemed to be in total control and managed to maintain a safe leading margin until the end.
Behind the leading trio there was an exciting battle for third position between Gabriele Tarquini, Javier Villa, Yvan Muller and Rob Huff. Until the final laps the Italian was able to keep his rivals at bay, performing another great defensive drive like the one that was worth a win in Zolder. However on the last lap Villa managed to muscle his way to the final spot of the podium.
Muller and Huff benefitted from the situation and demoted Tarquini to sixth.
Tiago Monteiro, Fredy Barth (in the best of the SUNRED cars), Kristian Poulsen and Pepe Oriola rounded up the top ten.
Key moments
Start – Menu turns first at turn 1; Muller skid sideways wide at T1, followed by Coronel (who clashed with Villa) and Poulsen
Lap 1 – Menu leads from Michelisz and Tarquini who is chased by Villa and Monteiro
Lap 1 – Dahlgren goes off at turn 3 and limps back to the pits
Lap 2 – Muller and Huff overtake Monteiro for fifth and sixth
Lap 3 – Engstler spins at turn 12 and rejoins
Lap 4 – Tarquini and Villa fight for third; Muller and Huff fight for fifth
Lap 4 – O’Young and Coronel make contact while fighting for eighth
Lap 5 – Menu increases the leading margin
Lap 6 – Muller and Huff chase the Tarquini-Villa duo
Lap 7 – Nykjær and Bennani observe a drive-through for cutting turn 4
Lap 8 – O’Young observes a drive-through for cutting turn 4
Lap 10 – Coronel retires from 8th due to high water temperature
Lap 12 – Villa muscles his way past Tarquini for third; they clash twice and Tarquini is passed by Muller and Huff
Lap 12 – Menu wins from Michelisz and Villa
Withdrawals
U. Sonderegger: DNS; R. Dahlgren: race incident; T. Coronel: water temperature.
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | A. Menu | Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | 12 laps - 23m45.874 |
| 02 | N. Michelisz | BMW 320 TC | +1.047 |
| 03 | J. Villa | BMW 320 TC | +17.383 |
| 04 | R. Huff | Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | +17.983 |
| 05 | Y. Muller | Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | +18.365 |
| 06 | G. Tarquini | Seat Leon 2.0 TDI | +18.780 |
| 07 | T. Monteiro | Seat Leon 2.0 TDI | +19.374 |
| 08 | F. Barth | SR Leon 1.6T | +24.349 |
| 09 | K. Poulsen | BMW 320 TC | +24.481 |
| 10 | P. Oriola | SR Leon 1.6T | +26.555 |
| 11 | Y. Taniguchi | Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | +35.306 |
| 12 | F. Engstler | BMW 320 TC | +36.399 |
| 13 | D. O’Young | Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T | +43.368 |
| 14 | M. Nykjaer | SR Leon 1.6T | +44.247 |
| 15 | M. Bennani | BMW 320 TC | +46.490 |
| 16 | A. Dudukalo | Seat Leon 2.0 TDI | +1m10.090 |
| 17 | F. Fabiani | BMW 320si | +1m54.908 |
| 18 | T. Coronel | BMW 320 TC | +3 laps |
| 19 | R. Dahlgren | Volvo C30 | DNF |
| Best lap | N. Michelisz | BMW 320 TC | 1m57.552s |