Rob Huff: “Macau is a really special place to me”

No victory this year in WTCR for you. Were you waiting for Macau?

Exactly (Laughs. Editor’s note). Especially since it would be the tenth. I already have the record, motorcycles and cars combined. Macau is a really special place for me. And I'm going to make it even more special on Sunday. We will have to survive the race on Saturday and the first on Sunday, where I will start in the heart of the peloton. We just need to bring the car back in one piece. But this championship remains difficult. The Lynk&Co and the Audi are 10 km/h faster than us at top speed. Even if I get the best start, I think it will be tough to hold them off until the Lisboa bend.

What is your favorite turn?

Clearly not the Melco pin and even less the Mandarin. I prefer the rest.

Who have you had the best fights with here?

Good question ! At Chevrolet, Yvan (Muller. Editor’s note) and Alain (Menu. Editor’s note) were close… but not close enough! It was nice to beat them pretty significantly here in Macau. This year, Andy (Priaulx. Editor's note) was one of the closest, but with the 2'27″ that I did in Q2, I was faster than anyone on this track. I have had many great rivals here and signed some of my best races there.

Have you, on the other hand, experienced difficult times?

Clearly 2012, when I hit the barriers in the twisty section during the first race of the weekend. I was fighting for the championship against Alain and Yvan. This really contrasted with my best moment here, in 2011, when I won both races of the weekend (but beat by 3 points in the championship by Yvan Muller. Editor's note).

Of all the cars you've driven here, which was your favorite?

The fastest was the red Lada in 2014, the Granta TC1 version. However, I love the current TCR cars from a pure racing perspective. The competition is incredible. But the feeling of the TC1 cars was really special, a bit like a car. Well come on, obviously the Volkswagen Golf TCR beats by far all the cars I've driven here (laughs, turning to the communications manager of Volkswagen Motorsport. Editor's note).

And your greatest victory?

The second race of 2012 that I won and which gave me the world title will remain forever engraved in my memory. After that of 2014, on a personal level, it's not bad either!