Huff turns pole into victory at Brno

Date published : 01 Aug 2010 - 10:50:34

Rob Huff converted his first pole of 2010 into his first win of the year in Sunday's opening World Touring Car race at Brno.The Chevrolet driver also did himself a huge favour in the title race by taking maximum points while his team-mate, championship leader Yvan Muller, failed to score.Huff got his nose ahead of the SEAT of Gabriele Tarquini through the rolling start and kept to the inside line at Turn 1 to defend his lead. Tarquini never really got a run at the Chevrolet, and a first lap accident wiped out several of their rivals.The SEATs of Jordi Gene and Tom Coronel were eliminated, while Andy Priaulx, Kristian Poulsen and Fredy Barth all continued with damaged cars.At the restart of the resulting safety car period, Colin Turkington and Norbert Michelisz touched on the way into Turn 1 - with Turkington running straight on and collecting the innocent Muller.Turkington was able to carry on in fourth, though with front left bodywork damage, Muller had to pit for lengthy repairs and Michelisz was out on the spot.That gave the front four a free run, with Alain Menu and Augusto Farfus following Huff and Tarquini home.Turkington struggled initially to stay ahead of the train of cars behind, but was able to break away from the SEATs of Michel Nykjaer and Tiago Monteiro when Priaulx began his recovery.Priaulx's pass on Monteiro then harassment and eventual pass of Nykjaer allowed Turkington to escape, before the Northern Irishman slowed to give Priaulx fifth on the last lap.Pos Driver Car Time/Gap 1. Rob Huff Chevrolet 28m46.901s 2. Gabriele Tarquini SEAT +0.796 3. Alain Menu Chevrolet +2.036 4. Augusto Farfus BMW +2.345 5. Andy Priaulx BMW +12.874 6. Colin Turkington BMW +13.202 7. Michel Nykjaer SEAT +14.256 8. Darryl O'Young Chevrolet +15.467 9. Kristian Poulsen BMW +15.68010. Tiago Monteiro SEAT +16.52411. Stefano D'Aste BMW +18.78012. Sergio Hernandez BMW +20.90513. Fredy Barth SEAT +21.36314. Franz Engstler BMW +22.48415. Mehdi Bennani BMW +24.25016. Harry Vaulkhard Chevrolet +26.55417. Andrey Romanov BMW +39.02218. Fabio Fabiani BMW 1:24.87219. Yvan Muller Chevrolet +6 lapsRetirements Norbert Michelisz SEAT 3 laps Tom Coronel SEAT 0 laps Jordi Gene SEAT 0 lapsFastest lap, Farfus 2m12.167s