RML
Team News
Victory for RML in Brno WTC. Issued September 3rd 2006
Huff
Scores Historic Win for Chevrolet:
From 24th To 1st
RML's
Chevrolet driver Rob Huff scored his maiden WTCC win in
Brno, today, having started in 24th position on the grid.
Never before in the history of the World Touring Car Championship
did a winning driver start further back. Huff’s and
Chevrolet’s supremacy on this track were further emphasized
by Alain Menu finishing in seveth in race one, and Nicola
Larini finishing in seventh in race two, having started
25th on the grid.
Chevrolet
Europe’s Executive Director, Wayne Brannon, was attending
the race in Brno and was extremely pleased with the result.
Incidentally, he also attended the race at Brands Hatch,
where Alain Menu scored Chevrolet’s first ever win
earlier this year. “Rob fighting back from near last
first shows the spirit of the people at Chevrolet, and the
brand as a whole,” he said. “Winning here is
a testament to the determination and capabilities of the
brand. Rob Huff today did exactly what we at Chevrolet believe
we can do and mirrors the success we have in the market
place. Racing is, after all, part of Chevrolet’s heritage
simply because we are not afraid to go out and compete with
our direct competitors.”
At
the end of the qualifying proceedings yesterday, both Huff
and Larini were put to the back on the grid as a result
of a double penalty for overtaking under waved yellow flags
in qualifying and for having changed the engine. But Huff
was quietly confident that he could finish in the points
regardless, knowing what few other people knew before the
race: “On my fastest qualifying lap, I did lift for
the yellows and lost some two tenths in that sector,”
he said. “The telemetry clearly shows it, so without
that yellow I would have qualified on the first row without
a problem. Our car is just that good here.”
All
three Chevrolet drivers took blinding starts, with Alain
moving up to sixth (from ninth on the grid), Nicola going
up to 14th (from 27th) and Rob crossing the finish line
in 15th (from 24th) after the first lap. While Alain kept
the other contenders strategically behind him, Rob slowly
crept up the leader board. Twelfth by lap 3, 11th by lap
6 and 8th by lap 8. Huff stayed in eighth until the finish
– good for pole position spot in race two –
while Menu let Coronel by at the very end of the race, thus
finishing in seventh and being guaranteed a spot on the
grid alongside Huff on row one.
With
a first all-Chevrolet front row, there were only happy faces
in the pits at the finish of the first race. “It all
came together nicely, didn’t it,” an elated
Huff said. “The car was very good, the grip was good;
I had some understeer but not too bad. Our car seems to
like this track with its flowing line. Of course we were
helped in the uphill part by the fact that we weren’t
carrying any extra weight, but nevertheless I think my car
was one of the best out there today. From the word go I
could just pick them off one by one quite easily. Turn 10
seemed to be my favourite as I passed most cars there. I
have to thank the boys at RML for having built me a super
car.”
Menu
had an excellent race as well: “I got hit by a BMW
at the start which gave the car some understeer, but other
than that it all worked out fine. In the first half of the
race it was difficult to keep the others behind me, but
in the second part the car worked better. I deliberately
let Coronel by on the last lap in order to drop a place
and finish in seventh, good for a first row starting position
in race two.”
Nicola
Larini’s race was maybe not as successful as that
of the other two Chevrolet drivers, but he also made up
sixteen places. “My race was pretty good until one
of the SEATs pushed me wide while I was passing him. Rob
then passed us both, while I nearly spun. Then I lost at
least four seconds behind one of the Hondas which ultimately
cost me a potential ninth place finish.”
In
race two, Huff did what he set out to do: take a solid start
and lead from green lights to finish flag, despite the constant
pressure of reigning World Champion, Andy Priaulx. Menu
dropped a place at the start, but got sideswiped off the
track and out of the race by Jorg Müller. Nicola Larini,
meanwhile, made up lost ground to finish in seventh.
The
next stop of the 2006 WTCC is at Istanbul on 24th September.
BRNO
RACE 1 RESULTS
1.
J Müller (BMW) 10 laps (54.030kms) in 22m39s066
2.
A Zanardi (BMW) + 1s729
3.
Y Muller (SEAT) + 2s765
4.
J Gené (SEAT) + 6s340
5.
A Priaulx (BMW) + 6s788
7.
A Menu (Chevrolet) + 11s788
8.
R Huff (Chevrolet) + 13s026
11.
N Larini (Chevrolet) + 18s830
19.
V Radermecker (Chevrolet) + 28s632
22.
R Bastuck (Chevrolet) + 40s883
1.
R Huff (Chevrolet) 10 laps (54.030kms) in 22m36s004
2.
A Priaulx (BMW) + 0s631
3.
Y Muller (SEAT) + 7s583
4.
J Müller (BMW) + 7s774
5.
D Müller (BMW) + 9s799
7.
N Larini (Chevrolet) + 10s973
13.
V Radermecker (Chevrolet) + 24s787
20.
R Bastuck (Chevrolet) + 39s895
DNF
A Menu (Chevrolet) Accident damage (5 laps)