when he took his second victory of the afternoon.A thrilling ten-lap race saw the lead change hands three times, with pole-sitter Darryl OYoung being overtaken by Gabriele Tarquini on the opening lap and Muller then passing the Italian drivers Honda on Lap 4. The battle for the remaining podium places was no less exciting, with the Chevrolet of Michel Nykjr finishing secondand so claiming maximum Yokohama Trophy pointsand third place only decided on the final lap; Tarquini holding off a determined charge from the SEAT of Marc Basseng and the pair crossing the finish line virtually together.
The standing start saw Basseng almost stall the car leaving the line, allowing Targuini to nip through into second place behind OYoung as the field headed down to the first chicane. Driving around the outside of the BMW at Turn 3, Tarquini took the lead, with OYoung then being passed by Basseng, Nykjr and Muller in quick succession. Tarquinis lead lasted until Lap 4, when Muller first passed Basseng for second place and then the Chevrolet driver snatched the lead from the Castrol Honda team Civic before Muller held on to take his second win of the day.
Behind Muller, Nykjr, Tarquini and Basseng, Mullers teammate Tom Chilton finished fifth, ahead of Pepe Oriola, James Nash, Tiago Monteiro and Stefano DAste. Rob Huff once again carved his way through the field after starting from the back of the grid to score a point by finishing in tenth place. Key momentsStartBasseng almost stalled the car and Tarquini passed him.Lap 1Tarquini passed OYoung to take the lead. Basseng, Nykjr and Muller all then passed OYoung for 2nd, 3rd and 4th places respectively. Mnnich went into the pits.Lap 2Barth spun. MacDowall went into the gravel at the Parabolica. Nash and Oriola passed OYoung.Lap 3Muller passed Nykjr for 3rd place. Dayraut, Bennani, Monje and MacDowall all used the escape road at Turn 1. Lap 4Basseng made a mistake on the exit to T1, allowing Muller to take 2nd place. Muller passed Tarquini to take the lead. By now, Huff was up to 14th place and Boardman (also started from the back of the grid) was 19th. Bennani was given a drive-through penalty.Lap 5Monteiro and DAste passed OYoung for 8th and 9th places.Lap 6Basseng went straight on at Turn 1 and dropped to 4th. Coronel and Huff passed OYoung for 10th and 11th.Lap 7Chilton passed Oriola for 6th after Oriola took to the escape road at T1. Nykjr passed Tarquini for 2nd.Lap 8Chilton passed Nash for 5th. Tarquini re-took 2nd, but Nykjr promptly re-took the place at Ascari. Boardman spun.Lap 9Huff was now in 10th place. Basseng was threatening Tarquini. Lap 10Tarquini held off Basseng to take third place by 0.087 second.
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