Huff and D'Aste win in Austria

Rob Huff and Stefano D¿Aste shared the wins at the Salzburgring as the British driver closed the gap to Yvan Muller at the top of the standings.

British driver closes gap at the top to Yvan Muller

Rob Huff and Stefano D'Aste shared the wins at the Salzburgring in Austria as the British driver closed the gap to Yvan Muller at the top of the drivers' standings. Having dominated in qualifying, the Chervolet's looked to have a major advantage over the rest of the field and promptly took off at the start of race one, opening up an advantage over the rest of the field. Huff and Muller battled over the lead throughout the race, with the Frenchman benefiting from a strong tow into the long right hander of Turn 9, which is one of the best overtaking spots on the track. However on lap five, the safety car came out after STR's Darryl O'Young ended up in the gravel following a clash with Charles Ng - it would become clear after race 2 how critical that safety car period was. After three laps behind the safety car, the racing resumed as fierce as ever at the front, and at one point the works Chevy's went into Turn 9 three-wide. However Huff was able to hold on from Mullter to take the race win and close the gap to Muller to 22 points at the top, as the Chevrolet drivers' locked out the podium.

Thrilling

The reverse grid from for race two had put Aleksei Dudukalo on pole, with Menu, Muller and Huff eighth, ninth and 10th respectively. However, his lead didn't last long as he was jumped by the BMW's of Tom Coronel and Stefano D'Aste at the start. But by lap four, Muller had powered through the field from 9th to lead, with Huff soon joining him at the front. Menu made it a Chevrolet one-two-three on lap seven when he passed Cornonel, but two laps later he was in the barrier. The Swiss suffered a front left puncture and slammed into the Armco at high speed, which served as a warning to his team-mates with just three laps left to run. This played into the hands of the BMW's, with the rear-wheel drive cars much easier on their tyres. Cornonel and D'Aste promptly closed the gap to the two lead Chevrolet's to setup a thrilling final lap. With just a couple of corners to go, Muller's front left deflated and he slid into the gravel, eventually limping home in eighth. Then in the final chicane Huff also fell afoul of the Chevy tyre woes. Cornonel dived to the inside of the final corner, but the British driver covered the line. As they diced, D'Aste seized the opportunity and went around the outside of both drivers to take his first WTCC win. Huff limped over the line in second to take another 14 points out of Muller's championship lead, with Cornonel completing the podium.

Championship Standings

1. Yvan Muller (FRA) - Chevrolet - 206 points
2. Rob Huff (GBR) - Chevrolet - 198
3. Alain Menu (SWI) - Chevrolet - 175
4. Tom Cornonel (NDL) - BMW - 116
5. Gabriele Tarquini - SEAT - 111