Rob Huff Brings Home Race 1 In Macau Four Points Finishes For Chevrolet, With Menu Taking A 4th And Larini A 7th In His Farewell To The WTCC
The Chevrolet Cruze finished its first racing season in the WTCC conquering the seventh win of its young career, as Rob Huff mastered a flag-to-flag win in race 1 in the last event of the 2009 calendar. The Brit kept his promise of conquering both the pole position and one win in the streets of Macau.
There were many more points for the Chevrolet team in the season’s closing round, as AlainMenu took fourth in the race 1 and Nicola Larini and Rob Huff finished 7th and 8th respectively in race 2. For the Italian driver, this was his last race with the team, as he announced his retirement from WTCC racing last Friday.
• QUOTESRob Huff (1st/8th): «Today was a ‘perfect-car-perfect-race’ day and I am very happy with theresult. Race 1 was very good, it is rather unusual to go round Macau without the slightestmistake, not even scratching a mirror, and I could keep the advantage of the pole. In the first 3-4laps, Monteiro was pushing very hard behind me but then the gap increased and all went fine. Inrace 2, I got caught in the typical bottle-neck at the first corner and then fought to re-gain somepositions. Finishing 8th I am very happy being 5th in the overall championship and the best Cruzein the championship”..Alain Menu (4th/21st): “Ive not much to say about race 1. I climbed to 7th at the beginning andstayed there for the entire race, with no opportunities to overtake. Eventually, I finished 4thbecause some other drivers pulled back strategically to help with points and the grid in race 2. Inthe second race, I slightly hit the wall at turn 10 and went sideways hitting the barrier on the otherside. I had to stop in the pits for repairs and lost one lap, but I could resume the race. I lookforward to 2010, I am sure it will be a much luckier year!”.
Nicola Larini (12th/7th): “Unfortunately, it wasn’t the race I had wanted for my farewell to theWTCC. In race 1, I got stuck in the blockade provoked by the accident between Farfus andPriaulx and lost many positions, then I had to struggle against Coronel and Rydell. In race 2, Itook a great start and was fighting with Gené for 6th when Zanardi hit me very hard in the back,leaving my car like a banana! Luckily, the race was red-flagged because of another incident and Icould save the 7th position. Now it’s time to say goodbye to all the folks and ... en route for newadventures!”
Mark Busfield: “It’s been a great finale to the year here in Macau, with another Macau Chevroletpole and a Race 1 win, we couldn’t wish for more. The team as always worked brilliantly thisweekend to ensure the cars strong on track performance, and they also performed some great pitwork in qualifying and the race”.
Eric Nève: “It’s nice to finish the season on a high like this. We are very happy with what theCruze has shown in this first year of its racing career: 7 wins and 3 poles is really good for adebuting car. Moreover, the Cruze has proven to be the best car on street circuits and grownsteadily on all kind of tracks. 2010 is starting now. We are delighted to have Yvan Muller joiningour team and preparing a busy work plan for the winter. We really want to be fighting for the titlenext year!”
MACAU RACE 1 RESULTS1. R Huff Chevrolet Cruze 9 laps in 23m02s6272. G Tarquini SEAT León TDI +7s9523. J Gené SEAT León TDI +8s9964. A Menu Chevrolet Cruze +10s3285. Y Muller SEAT León TDI +13s53412. N Larini Chevrolet Cruze +18s476
MACAU RACE 2 RESULTS1. A Farfus BMW 320si 7 laps in 22m20s1662. J Müller BMW 320si +0s8013. Y Muller SEAT León TDI +1s2014. T Monteiro SEAT León TDI +1s9805. G Tarquini SEAT León TDI +3s8157. N Larini Chevrolet Cruze +5s3598. R Huff Chevrolet Cruze +5s89521. A Menu Chevrolet Cruze -2 laps
DRIVERS POINTS STANDINGS AFTER RACE 24 OF 241. G Tarquini (SEAT), 127 points; 2. Y Muller (SEAT), 123; 3. A Farfus (BMW), 113; 4. A Priaulx(BMW), 84; 5. R Huff (Chevrolet), 73; ... 10. A Menu (Chevrolet), 39; ...13. N Larini(Chevrolet), 27; etc...
MANUFACTURERS POINTS STANDINGS AFTER RACE 24 OF 241. SEAT, 314 points; 2. BMW, 311; 3. Chevrolet, 215; 4. Lada, 83.
