Muller wins amid more last lap drama

Date published : 23 May 2010 - 13:47:36

Yvan Muller won Sunday's second World Touring Car race at Monza after misfortune once again befell a leading SEAT on the last lap.Michel Nykjaer started from the reverse grid pole and looked certain for victory after Gabriele Tarquini had to take a drive-through penalty for jumping the start.Tarquini had passed Nykjaer early on, but the Dane reclaimed his lead on the road into the first chicane - the move coming after Tarquini had been given the penalty but before he had taken it.Nykjaer, who dropped from fifth to eighth when he suffered a last lap puncture in race one along with Tarquini and Rob Huff, was leading comfortably onto the last lap this time. But he slowed dramatically at Curva Grande and pulled off the track at the second chicane with another deflated tyre.That gave Yvan Muller the lead with just half a lap to go and a small but safe cap over Tom Coronel and Huff, who would complete the podium. The BMWs of Augusto Farfus and Andy Priaulx were next up, once again profitting on the final tour.A lively scrap between the SEATs of Jordi Gene, Tiago Monteiro and Nortbert Michelisz filled sixth to eighth places, while Alain Menu and Leonel Pernia rounded out the top 10 for Chevrolet.After serving his drive-through penalty, Tarquini returned to the pits on the following lap to retire.Pos Driver Car Time/Gap 1. Yvan Muller Chevrolet 18m29.805s 2. Tom Coronel SEAT +0.512 3. Rob Huff Chevrolet +0.822 4. Augusto Farfus BMW +1.001 5. Andy Priaulx BMW +1.742 6. Jordi Gene SEAT +3.495 7. Tiago Monteiro SEAT +4.197 8. Norbert Michelisz SEAT +4.580 9. Alain Menu Chevrolet +5.09910. Leonel Pernia Chevrolet +9.91811. Stefano D'Aste BMW +11.85612. Darryl O'Young Chevrolet +13.49913. Harry Vaulkhard Chevrolet +14.36814. Fredy Barth SEAT +14.50615. Kristian Poulsen BMW +14.83616. Sergio Hernandez BMW +15.26617. Mehdi Bennani BMW +33.55718. Fabio Fabiani BMW +49.454Not classified Michel Nykjaer SEAT 8 laps Gabriele Tarquini SEAT 6 laps Andrey Romanov BMW 2 lapsFastest lap, Priaulx 2m01.860s