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| WINNING WAY ... Rob Huff celebrates his victory at the Salzburgring |
ROB HUFF hit his World Touring Car Championship rivals with the old 1-2 at the
Salzburgring.
SunSport columnist Huff grabbed a pole to flag victory in Race 1 before
hanging on to second place in Race 2 despite his Chevy suffering a last-lap
puncture.
An excellent afternoon's work pulled Huff to within eight points of championship leader Yvan Muller as the season reached it's half-way point.
The opening contest had a familiar look to it, with all three Chevrolet drivers claiming a spot on the podium.
Huffy led home 2011 champion Muller, who was just 0.312sec behind in second, while their team-mate Alain Menu was a close third.
The battling Brit said after: “That has to be one of the hardest races of my life because I spent more time looking in the mirror than looking forward.
"It was so difficult to hold off Yvan going up the back straight, since at one point he was more than three-quarters of the way past me.
"But I managed to hold on, thankfully."
The real drama though came during the second run of the day, when all THREE Chevrolets suffered punctures, allowing Stefano D’Aste to claim a first ever WTCC win for him personally and for the Wiechers-Sport team.
Menu slid off on lap eight before race leader Muller went wide on turn 10 of the final lap, both drivers having suffered punctures to their front left tyres.
D'Aste began that final lap in fourth place and passed stricken Muller before squeezing up behind the front pair.
New leader Huff was being pushed hard by Tom Coronel but became the third Chevy driver to suffer a puncture as they negotiated turn 12.
Dutchman Coronel found himself blocked and D'Aste scooted through to claim the win, Huff just holding on for second place.
Huffy said: "I had probably the best start of the three of us in Race 2 and could afford to push Yvan once I got into second place behind him.
"But we had a radio message saying Alain and Alex [MacDowall] both had
punctures and so I took the decision to slow down a little.
"Yvan slowed down as well to preserve his position and it was really unlucky that he got his puncture when he did.
"I got a puncture in the very next corner and the car wouldn’t turn in.
"Stefano [D’Aste] gambled on the line and took his first win and so congratulations for him.”
D'Aste was so busy concentrating on his manouvre that he didn't realise he had won the race.
He said: "In the last lap I saw Yvan going out and I went on a different line to pass Tom and Rob.
"I knew that it was something of a gamble whichever way I went, but fortunately it was the correct decision.
"I actually didn’t know that was the last lap. I asked Dominik Greiner [Wiechers-Sport team manager] how many laps were left and he told me I had won.”
An excellent afternoon's work pulled Huff to within eight points of championship leader Yvan Muller as the season reached it's half-way point.
The opening contest had a familiar look to it, with all three Chevrolet drivers claiming a spot on the podium.
Huffy led home 2011 champion Muller, who was just 0.312sec behind in second, while their team-mate Alain Menu was a close third.
The battling Brit said after: “That has to be one of the hardest races of my life because I spent more time looking in the mirror than looking forward.
"It was so difficult to hold off Yvan going up the back straight, since at one point he was more than three-quarters of the way past me.
"But I managed to hold on, thankfully."
The real drama though came during the second run of the day, when all THREE Chevrolets suffered punctures, allowing Stefano D’Aste to claim a first ever WTCC win for him personally and for the Wiechers-Sport team.
Menu slid off on lap eight before race leader Muller went wide on turn 10 of the final lap, both drivers having suffered punctures to their front left tyres.
D'Aste began that final lap in fourth place and passed stricken Muller before squeezing up behind the front pair.
New leader Huff was being pushed hard by Tom Coronel but became the third Chevy driver to suffer a puncture as they negotiated turn 12.
Dutchman Coronel found himself blocked and D'Aste scooted through to claim the win, Huff just holding on for second place.
Huffy said: "I had probably the best start of the three of us in Race 2 and could afford to push Yvan once I got into second place behind him.
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| SURPRISE SURPRISE ... Race 2 winner Stefano D'Aste is flanked by Rob Huff, left, and Tom Coronel |
"Yvan slowed down as well to preserve his position and it was really unlucky that he got his puncture when he did.
"I got a puncture in the very next corner and the car wouldn’t turn in.
"Stefano [D’Aste] gambled on the line and took his first win and so congratulations for him.”
D'Aste was so busy concentrating on his manouvre that he didn't realise he had won the race.
He said: "In the last lap I saw Yvan going out and I went on a different line to pass Tom and Rob.
"I knew that it was something of a gamble whichever way I went, but fortunately it was the correct decision.
"I actually didn’t know that was the last lap. I asked Dominik Greiner [Wiechers-Sport team manager] how many laps were left and he told me I had won.”
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