Huff and Berthon on top in France, Azcona moves towards WTCR title

But a double-podium for BRC Hyundai driver Mikel Azcona helped the Spaniard take a major step towards the coveted crown.

Both races followed a similar pattern with Huff’s Zengo Motorsport CUPRA moving into the lead at the start of race two from a front-row start just as Berthon’s Comtoyou Audi had done in the earlier encounter.

Briton Huff resisted an early attack from polesitter Mehdi Bennani’s Comtoyou Audi, but the 2012 World Touring Car champion pulled out a one-second margin by half-distance and drove on to his second victory of the season.

Not only did it maintain his third place in the overall points, it also gave him a near-unassailable 50-point lead in the WTCR Trophy standings.

Bennani’s first podium of the season came a few hours after team-mate Berthon had scored his first WTCR victory for nearly two years in almost identical fashion.

In the Frenchman’s case, his win came after he fended off title contender Nestor Girolami’s Munnich Motorsport Honda, which had qualified on pole position.

Gilles Magnus – in the third Comtoyou Audi – was third in race one, but was later penalised five seconds for pushing Esteban Guerrieri’s Munnich Honda into a spin, dropping him to seventh.

That promoted Azcona to third – a result he matched in race two after team-mate Norbert Michelisz let him through under orders with a quarter of the race to go.

Azcona heads Girolami in the standings by a commanding 35 points - just one less than he came to France with.

Tiago Monteiro scored his best result of 2022 in sixth in race two for Engstler Motorsport while Guerrieri’s miserable weekend continued as he was punted off by another Comtoyou Audi – this time Tom Coronel’s – two corners from the finish.

After the tyre issues at Vallelunga that led to the withdrawal of the reigning champion Cyan Racing team earlier in the week, just two cars suffered punctures in race one in France, both caused by damaged wheel rims as a result of contact.

WTCR Anneau du Rhin race one results - 22 laps 

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Time	Gap
1	Nathanael Berthon	Audi	-
2	Nestor Girolami	Honda	0.299	0.299
3	Gilles Magnus	Audi	0.660	0.660
4	Mikel Azcona	Hyundai	1.047	1.047
5	Norbert Michelisz	Hyundai	1.586	1.586
6	Rob Huff	CUPRA	2.408	2.408
7	Tom Coronel	Audi	4.603	4.603
8	Daniel Nagy	CUPRA	5.946	5.946
9	Tiago Monteiro	Honda	6.505	6.505
10	Esteban Guerrieri	Honda	1'04.602	1'04.602
11	Mehdi Bennani	Audi	1 lap
12	Attila Tassi	Honda	4 laps
View full results

WTCR Anneau du Rhin race two results - 18 laps 

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Time	Gap
1	Rob Huff	CUPRA	-
2	Mehdi Bennani	Audi	0.896	0.896
3	Mikel Azcona	Hyundai	1.114	1.114
4	Norbert Michelisz	Hyundai	3.990	3.990
5	Gilles Magnus	Audi	4.936	4.936
6	Tiago Monteiro	Honda	7.591	7.591
7	Nestor Girolami	Honda	11.716	11.716
8	Nathanael Berthon	Audi	12.289	12.289
9	Attila Tassi	Honda	12.533	12.533
10	Esteban Guerrieri	Honda	13.817	13.817
11	Tom Coronel	Audi	19.206	19.206
12	Daniel Nagy	CUPRA	2 laps
View full results