WTCC: ROUNDS 9 & 10 – SALZBURG, AUSTRIA
RACE REPORT
It’s still Citroën ahead of everybody in the WTCC. The French cars took two wins on the fast and tricky Salzburgring, with Yvan Muller imposing himself in Race 1 and José María López in Race 2. For both, it was their third personal success this season. 32,700 spectators visited the track over the weekend.
At the end of the weekend, though, the Argentine, who was third in Race 1, went home with a 41-point lead on Muller and 45 on Loeb, while after the morning race his advantage had been reduced to 16 units. This proved that, despite the step forward made by López during the weekend, things can change quickly.
Yvan Muller had an almost undisturbed journey to victory in Race 1, where Tom Coronel, at the wheel of the ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet, put the show, resisting fiercely to López, who lost second after going straight through the chicane, with Loeb finishing fourth.
Race 2 was completely different for Muller, as the Frenchman had to retire following the accident at the start, which also eliminated the LADA cars of Huff and Thompson.
Honda could not use the advantage of having four cars in the first two rows, as Tarquini, who led most of the race, could not resist to López. The Japanese manufacturer still placed three cars in the top four, with Monteiro third ahead of Michelisz. Loeb could not do better than 7th.
Franz Engstler continued his triumphant march in TC2, by taking two wins almost at home, beating in both cases Filippi and Di Sabatino.
The championship will resume at the Moscow Raceway, on June 8 for rounds 11 and 12.
ETCC – TITLE FIGHTS HEAT UP AT HALF SEASON
The FIA European Touring Car Cup has passed the half-season mark in Austria and the fight for the different titles is heating up.
Winning both races in the TC2T class, despite being pushed at the back of the grid for Race 1 following a technical infringement in qualifying, Nikolay Karamyshev has built a 14-point lead ahead of his team mate Igor Skuz who was eliminated by an incident with a slower car.
Michal Matějovský and Christian Fischer took one victory apiece in the TC2 class. However, the reigning champion Petr Fulín has stretched his lead to 22 points over his team-mate Matějovský.
In the Single-Make Trophy Aku Pellinen pocketed the maximum score of 23 points (two wins plus the pole position), but thanks to a couple of second places Andreas Pfister remains close, only 11 points behind.
Gilles Bruckner disrupted Ulrike Krafft’s winning streak that lasted since the season’s opening meeting at Le Castellet. Claiming a double victory in Austria, Bruckner has closed the gap from the German girl to 15 points.
Meanwhile, Krafft has built up a solid 39-point lead in the Ladies’ Trophy.
