Huff leads Chevy podium sweep

After locking out the first three places on grid, the Ray Mallock-prepared Chevrolets fulfilled their qualifying form by dominating the race. Briton Huff reaped the advantage of pole to lead every lap, holding off reigning world champion Yvan Muller by 0.8 seconds at the chequered flag.

Muller was unable to stage an overtaking attempt through the duration of the race. In turn, the Frenchman's runner-up position was secure from triple Brazilian Stock Car champion 'Caca' Bueno. Following a difficult introduction to the championship at Brands Hatch last year, local star Bueno had a greatly improved second WTCC outing and took the final spot on the podium.

The battle for fourth compensated for the lack of action at the front. A fast-starting Kristian Poulsen challenged Bueno for third around the outside of Turn 1, but as the Chevrolets pulled clear, the Engstler driver came under attack from a charging Tom Coronel's similar, ROAL Motorsport run, BMW 320.

A mistake by Poulsen at the exit of Esse da Baixa, in which he ran wide and kicked up a plume of dirt, allowed Coronel to seize his chance and steal fourth. Poulsen swiftly recovered the lost ground, and three laps from home dived inside Coronel under braking for Entrada do Miolo, a long right-hand corner. Coronel resisted, and the pair ran Yokohama to Yokohama through the following Pinheirinho sequence.

While Poulsen briefly reclaimed the position, Coronel took the place back for good on the last lap. Ominously for Chevrolet's opposition, Coronel finished a little over 12s adrift of winner Huff.

After a troubled qualifying, Alain Menu made use of some decisive moves and his Chevrolet's superiority to swiftly move up the order. The Swiss cleared squabbling SUNRED SEAT team-mates Gabriele Tarquini and Michel Nykjaer at mid-distance, and had reached the tail of the BMW battle at the flag, where just 0.7s seconds would cover the fourth to sixth-placed cars.

Results - 14 laps:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car            Time/Gap
 1.  Rob Huff            Chevrolet         19m29.481s
 2.  Yvan Muller         Chevrolet           + 0.873s
 3.  Carlos Bueno        Chevrolet           + 3.924s
 4.  Tom Coronel         ROAL BMW           + 12.714s
 5.  Kristian Poulsen    Engstler BMW       + 13.004s
 6.  Alain Menu          Chevrolet          + 13.402s
 7.  Gabriele Tarquini   SUNRED SEAT        + 14.214s
 8.  Michel Nykjaer      SUNRED SEAT        + 14.716s
 9.  Franz Engstler      Engstler BMW       + 19.100s
10.  Mehdi Bennani       Proteam BMW        + 19.591s
11.  Tiago Monteiro      SUNRED SEAT        + 20.001s
12.  Robert Dahlgren     Polestar Volvo     + 20.343s
13.  Pepe Oriola         SUNRED SEAT        + 25.098s
14.  Javier Villa        Proteam BMW        + 25.527s
15.  Fredy Barth         SUNRED SEAT        + 28.285s
16.  Marchy Lee          KK BMW             + 41.400s
17.  Aleksei Dudukalo    SUNRED SEAT        + 41.820s
18.  Yukinori Taniguchi  bamboo Chevrolet   + 45.265s
19.  Fabio Fabiani       Proteam BMW          + 1 lap

Retirements:

     Darryl O'Young      bamboo Chevrolet      4 laps