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Rio Hondo WTCC: Yvan Muller leads wild pack behind in race one

Yvan Muller claimed victory in the World Touring Car Championship's first race in Argentina with a serene drive that contrasted starkly with the rest of the field

Having protected his advantage from the start, poleman Muller's task was instantly made easier when Tom Chilton and Norbert Michelisz squabbled at Turn 1, allowing the Frenchman breathing space at the front.

Untroubled by traffic, and free of the endless fights happening behind, RML Chevrolet driver Muller was able to pull away by around one second per lap, and with three to go had a commanding 10s lead.

That allowed him to drop his pace considerably over the final laps and still triumph by almost five seconds, despite Pepe Oriola's late charge in the Tuenti Chevrolet.

The Spaniard won a fierce battle for second that at times encompassed seven cars.

It was Michelisz who had initially held the advantage following his move on Chilton, but the Briton managed to eventually pick him off on lap five after the pair traded blows through the back section.

Michelisz had been able to temporarily get back in front, but in refusing to cede position he also compromised his exit onto the main straight and was helpless as Oriola, Gabriele Tarquini and Michel Nykjaer drove past.

Oriola then set about hounding Chilton, eventually picking him off three laps later to set a podium order that would last to the flag.

Michelisz's woes were not finished however: after losing three spots down the main straight, he lost two more when James Nash went too deep into Turn 1 and hit him, allowing the Briton and home favourite Jose Maria Lopez through.

The Argentine, starting from 10th on the grid, would then pass Nash for sixth and, one lap from the end, pull off a great move on Nykjaer to seal a top five finish on his WTCC debut.

Behind Nykjaer in sixth, a fading Nash fell victim to Michelisz and then a charging Rob Huff, who incredibly came through from the back of the grid to take eighth.

His progress was almost matched by Tiago Monteiro.

Like Huff forced to start from the back of the grid due to an engine change, the Honda driver came through to clinch one point for 10th.

Results - 12 laps:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car            Time/Gap
 1.  Yvan Muller         RML Chevrolet     22m56.896s
 2.  Pepe Oriola         Tuenti Chevrolet     +4.924s
 3.  Tom Chilton         RML Chevrolet        +7.813s
 4.  Gabriele Tarquini   Honda                +7.989s
 5.  Jose Maria Lopez    Wiechers BMW         +8.846s
 6.  Michel Nykjaer      Nika Chevrolet      +10.214s
 7.  Norbert Michelisz   Zengo Honda         +12.833s
 8.  Rob Huff            Munnich SEAT        +13.960s
 9.  James Nash          Bamboo Chevrolet    +14.636s
10.  Tiago Monteiro      Honda               +14.870s
11.  Alex MacDowall      Bamboo Chevrolet    +15.743s
12.  Marc Basseng        Munnich SEAT        +16.619s
13.  Hugo Valente        Campos SEAT         +17.333s
14.  Stefano D'Aste      PB BMW              +19.858s
15.  Darryl O'Young      ROAL BMW            +20.247s
16.  Fernando Monje      Campos SEAT         +23.563s
17.  Charles Ng          Engstler BMW        +23.782s
18.  Rene Munnich        Munnich SEAT        +30.675s
19.  Franz Engstler      Engstler BMW        +33.536s
20.  Mehdi Bennani       Proteam BMW         +36.459s

Retirements:

     James Thompson      Lada                  8 laps
     Tom Coronel         ROAL BMW              7 laps
     Mikhail Kozlovskiy  Lada                  2 laps

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