WTCC – Ma Qing Hua shines in Russia

Even before the start of this second round in Moscow, the suspense was intense in the stands because the Chevrolet Cruze of pole-sitter Hugo Valente was still undergoing repairs less than 5′ from the grid, following the collision in C1 with Dusan Borković. For three short seconds, the Frenchman managed to leave the pitlane, but was penalized after the start for not having put his wheels on the grid before the time limit within 6″. A difficult drive-through for the Campos driver, especially since he had managed to maintain the advantage at the first corner at the start over the Honda Civic of Norbert Michelisz who had passed Ma Qing Hua for second place. 

A complicated start for Citroën, however, since José Maria Lopez will remain stuck on the grid, recalcitrant gearbox. And it's not over for the brand with the chevrons since Yvan Muller saw himself pushed around and almost sent into a spin at the first corner by a Honda. The Frenchman, back down to 9th position, will begin a crazy comeback. Taking advantage in particular of Tarquini's avatars (power steering at half mast on his official Honda), the Alsatian will move up to second position and threaten leader Hua to the end, who will however retain the lead under the checkered flag.

Behind, it was Mehdi Bennani who finally emerged victorious from a pitched battle between Monteiro (Honda), Michelisz (Honda), Coronel (Chevrolet), Loeb (Citroën) and Chilton (Chevrolet). The Frenchman will finish 5th after authoritatively overtaking Michelisz's Civic in the last corner.

With his second place, Yvan Muller is 41 points behind Jose Maria Lopez in the championship. Loeb is 3rd, 48 points behind the Argentinian. The next WTCC event will take place in Belgium at Spa-Francorchamps on June 21 and 22.

Find the report from the Moscow round of the WTCC in the 1964 issue of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version on all platforms and on newsstands next Wednesday