Gene claims first Zolder victory
Jordi Gene has won the opening World Touring Car race of the weekend at Zolder, on the road at least
The SEAT driver beat team-mate and pole-sitter Gabriel Tarquini away at the rolling start, but he seemed to cross the line first. Gene led the race of the rest quite comfortably, but his start is under investigation by the race stewards.
Tarquini briefly dropped to third behind Yvan Muller on the first lap, but settled in second and soon pulled clear of the Chevrolets behind.
Half way through the race, Muller began to fall back into the clutches of team-mate Alain Menu, who headed a train consisting of Tiago Monteiro, Rob Huff and Norbert Michelisz.
Andy Priaulx ran down and passed eighth-placed Tom Coronel when the Dutchman ran wide exiting the Bolderberghaarspeldbocht hairpin. Coronel was left to resist pressure from the second BMW of Augusto Farfus in the closing stages to defend his ninth place - which will become eighth and reverse-grid pole for race two if Gene is penalised.
Pos Driver Car Time/Gap 1. Jordi Gene SEAT 21m51.561s 2. Gabriele Tarquini SEAT +2.648 3. Yvan Muller Chevrolet +5.277 4. Alain Menu Chevrolet +5.704 5. Tiago Monteiro SEAT +6.207 6. Rob Huff Chevrolet +6.514 7. Norbert Michelisz SEAT +6.840 8. Andy Priaulx BMW +7.475 9. Tom Coronel SEAT +11.943 10. Augusto Farfus BMW +12.101 11. Fredy Barth SEAT +12.303 12. Kristian Poulsen BMW +16.021 13. Pierre-Yves Corthals SEAT +18.048 14. Sergio Hernandez BMW +20.259 15. Mehdi Bennani BMW +20.888 16. Harry Vaulkhard Chevrolet +22.071 17. Stefano D'Aste BMW +23.139 18. Vincent Radermecker Chevrolet +23.525 19. Michel Nykjaer SEAT +29.137 20. Andrey Romanov BMW +56.690 21. Darryl O'Young Chevrolet +1 lap Retirements Franz Engstler BMW 8 laps
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