Huff wins wet-dry race one

The Chevrolet Lacetti driver scythed past pole man Tiago Monteiro's SEAT and teammate Nicola Larini at the first corner to take a lead he would never lose. But it was close, with Monteiro cutting Huff's advantage to nothing in the final laps and coming close to passing him at the finish line.

Behind the pair, it was a dramatic race. Jordi Gene, behind the wheel of the new diesel-powered SEAT, leaped to third on the first lap and eventually found his way past Monteiro on lap three. The Spaniard started to reel in Huff, but by lap seven his wet tyres were spent and he ultimately faded to finish 17th.

This put Monteiro back up to second position, with Chevrolet newcomer Rickard Rydell taking third place from Gene. However, James Thompson, who had been disappointed to qualify only 10th, was on a charge, and on lap 10 he passed Rydell for third to clinch his first podium finish since his double victory at Valencia in May.

GR Asia's Tom Coronel, always strong in low-grip conditions, drove a superb race to take fourth place ahead of the leading slick-shod car of Gabriele Tarquini, who overtook the other diesel SEAT of Yvan Muller with a dramatic last lap pass around the outside of the penultimate corner.

Behind Muller and Larini, who ran as high as third, Menu ensured an all-Chevrolet front row for race two by leaping past the BMW of Fredrik Eblom and Rydell on the last lap to earn reverse grid pole.

Robert Dahlgren, making his WTCC behind the wheel of Polestar Racing's bioethanol-powered Volvo S60, took an impressive 10th place after gambling on slicks. He was one place ahead of the best of the championship contenders -  Andy Priaulx - who like his fellow BMW drivers was struggling in the wet.

Classified:

Pos  Driver            Car         Time
 1.  Robert Huff       Chevrolet   23:51.708
 2.  Tiago Monteiro    SEAT        +   0.729
 3.  James Thompson    Alfa Romeo  +  12.501
 4.  Tom Coronel       SEAT        +  18.465
 5.  G.Tarquini        SEAT        +  20.858
 6.  Yvan Muller       SEAT        +  21.142
 7.  Nicola Larini     Chevrolet   +  25.821
 8.  Alain Menu        Chevrolet   +  25.892
 9.  Rickard Rydell    Chevrolet   +  26.437
10.  Robert Dahlgren   Volvo       +  27.526
11.  Andy Priaulx      BMW         +  40.838
12.  Fredrik Ekblom    BMW         +  41.138
13.  O.Tielemans       Alfa Romeo  +  41.258
14.  Felix Porteiro    BMW         +  41.708
15.  Jorg Muller       BMW         +  42.728
16.  Augusto Farfus    BMW         +  43.706
17.  Luca Rangoni      BMW         +  43.976
18.  Jordi Gene        SEAT        +  44.710
19.  Roberto Colciago  SEAT        +  45.571
20.  A.Zanardi         BMW         +  45.752
21.  Stefano D'Aste    BMW         +  46.109
22.  P-Y.Corthals      SEAT        +1:07.012
23.  M.Ceresoli        SEAT        +1:10.120
24.  Alexander Lvov    Honda       +1:19.024
25.  Carl Rosenblad    BMW         +   1 lap
26.  Andrey Smetsky    Honda       +   1 lap

Not classified:

     Driver            Car         Laps
     M.Jourdain Jr     SEAT        7
     Sergio Hernandez  BMW         3