WTCR Vila Real: Muller wins crash-delayed race
Yvan Muller reclaimed the World Touring Car Cup points lead with victory in Saturday's opening race, which featured a stoppage of more than two hours after a huge first-lap crash

Muller made a dreadful start on the initial getaway, but was the first car in the queue when the race restarted behind a safety car and controlled proceedings thereafter.
The race had been halted for car recovery and track repairs after a crash on the opening lap, which was triggered by polesitter Rob Huff and team-mate Mehdi Bennani making contact through the fast Turn 3 right-hander.
Norbert Michelisz had returned to the grid having survived a hit in that crash, but his BRC Racing Hyundai i30 N was not allowed to take the restart and was instead returned to the pits, giving Muller clear track when racing resumed at the end of lap four.
The four-time world champion was matched in the opening laps by Esteban Guerrieri - whose Munnich Motorsport outfit had worked throughout the stoppage to repair his Honda Civic in time for the restart - with Gabriele Tarquini in tow in third in the sole surviving BRC Hyundai.
But Muller gradually eked out an advantage and was never troubled by Guerrieri, with both opting to serve their joker laps at the end of lap eight.
Muller clinched his second win of the season by a little more than two seconds, reclaiming the points lead in the process as a result of nephew Yann Ehrlacher being eliminated in the first lap crash.
Oriola had earlier completed a vital overtake on Jean-Karl Vernay - who had taken the initial start from the pitlane after crashing at the end of qualifying - by squeezing his Campos Racing Cupra past Vernay on the run off the second corner after Vernay had served his joker.
Vernay still finished a comfortable fifth behind Tarquini, while Aurelien Comte claimed sixth in his Peugeot 308TCR from Benjamin Lessennes in the closing stages.
The Comtoyou Raing Audi RS3 LMSs finished eighth and 10th, sandwiching the similar WRT car of Gordon Shedden.
Fabrizio Giovanardi finished 11th - recording the Team Mulsanne Alfa Romeo outfit's best finish so far in 2018 - but he was placed under investigation during the race for crossing the blue joker lap line in his Giulietta.
Race one result
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Laps | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Yvan Muller | YMR | Hyundai | 13 | 2h36m58.962s |
2 | Esteban Guerrieri | Munnich Motorsport | Honda | 13 | 2.060s |
3 | Pepe Oriola | Campos Racing | Cupra | 13 | 10.596s |
4 | Gabriele Tarquini | BRC Racing Team | Hyundai | 13 | 12.925s |
5 | Jean-Karl Vernay | WRT | Audi | 13 | 13.926s |
6 | Aurelien Comte | DG Sport Competition | Peugeot | 13 | 14.186s |
7 | Benjamin Lessennes | Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda | 13 | 16.696s |
8 | Nathanael Berthon | Comtoyou Racing | Audi | 13 | 19.937s |
9 | Gordon Shedden | WRT | Audi | 13 | 20.169s |
10 | Frederic Vervisch | Comtoyou Racing | Audi | 13 | 20.678s |
11 | Fabrizio Giovanardi | Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo | 13 | 21.728s |
12 | Mat'o Homola | DG Sport Competition | Peugeot | 13 | 22.668s |
13 | Edgar Florindo | Veloso Motorsport | Cupra | 13 | 50.040s |
14 | Norbert Nagy | Zengo Motorsport | Cupra | 13 | 50.451s |
15 | Zsolt Szabo | Zengo Motorsport | Cupra | 13 | 1m05.510s |
16 | Aurelien Panis | Comtoyou Racing | Audi | 10 | 3 Laps |
- | Denis Dupont | Comtoyou Racing | Audi | 8 | Retirement |
- | Jose Rodrigues | Target Competition | Honda | 7 | Retirement |
- | Tom Coronel | Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda | 5 | Retirement |
- | Norbert Michelisz | BRC Racing Team | Hyundai | 1 | Retirement |
- | Gianni Morbidelli | Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo | 0 | Not started |
- | Thed Bjork | YMR | Hyundai | 0 | Retirement |
- | Yann Ehrlacher | Munnich Motorsport | Honda | 0 | Retirement |
- | Rob Huff | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen | 0 | Retirement |
- | James Thompson | Munnich Motorsport | Honda | 0 | Retirement |
- | Mehdi Bennani | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen | 0 | Retirement |
- | John Filippi | Campos Racing | Cupra | 0 | Retirement |

Huge crash halts first Vila Real WTCR race on first lap
Yvan Muller missed huge Vila Real WTCR crash with best worst start

Latest news
The much-loved tin-top superstar bowing out at 59
OPINION: It's not often that a driver achieves widespread affection for their personality, as well as their on-track performances. One such individual is Gabriele Tarquini, who will soon bring the curtain down on a remarkable career that has yielded touring car titles on the European and global stage - and, famously, in Britain too
Why the new electric tin-top series deserves to be taken seriously
The new Pure ETCR series will get underway at Vallelunga this weekend featuring great looking cars, top drivers and real tracks. Its format is wacky, but it exists in an era when its petrol-fuelled brethren are all artificially contrived, and has the potential to move the tin-top game on
The tin-top champion who doesn't know the meaning of retirement
The news is out that three-time World Touring Car champion Andy Priaulx is stepping down from full-time racing. But he's still got plenty of mileage left him in yet, and his son has much more
The phoenix driver who is at peace with his defeats
Esteban Guerrieri spent years trying to make it in single-seaters, and came closer than you'd think to making it to F1. Now he's forging a successful tin-top career, but it's his philosophical approach to defeat and personal growth that is truly impressive
The surprise team orders twisting a world title battle
Team orders in major touring car racing are nothing unusual with manufacturer honour at stake. But in the 2019 World Touring Cars title fight, one team is raising eyebrows with the choices it is making
The 'weapon' clash that turned a world title battle bitter
Emotions ran high at Suzuka last weekend between two teams gunning for global tin-top bragging rights, and little has been done to cool those tensions since. While that's great news for WTCR, is there a danger of both outfits losing sight of their main aim?
How WTCR's last real independent has stayed in play
The World Touring Car Cup has gone from strength to strength for 2019 - but one small team in particular is proving time and again that it merits a place alongside the series' big hitters
The lessons World Touring Cars must heed from history
The WTCR has made a massive step up in quality ahead of its second season in its current format, but as manufacturers start to lock horns is it already in danger of repeating other great touring car series' mistakes?