Muller and Morbidelli share Hungaroring WTCC victories

Race 1

Muller leads another Citroen WTCC 1,2Reigning World Touring Car Champion, Yvan Muller, scored a commanding win in the first race at the Hungaroring, yesterday.

The french driver led home another Citroën 1-2 ahead of team mate José María López.Tiago Monteiro completed the podium in the first Honda Civic. Nine-time World Rally Champion, Sébastien Loeb, atypically missed his start and dropped from third to seventh, allowing all four Honda cars to pass him. Local hero Norbert Michelisz, who had had a difficult qualifying session yesterday, used his talent to move up from 11th to sixth in the space of three corners.With Coronel starting in eighth, the top-8 after the first lap stayed the same throughout the entire race, with the real fights for position happening in the back.Midway through the race, the LADA cars seemed to suffer handling problems and both Rob Huff and James Thompson were passed by the Chevrolet cars of Gianni Morbidelli and Hugo Valente.In the TC2T class, Liqui Moly Team Engstler scored another 1-2, this time “apprentice” Pasquale Di Sabatino finishing ahead of team boss Franz Engstler.

Key momentsStart – Loeb misses his start and drops to 7th.Lap 1 – Muller leads from López and the Honda cars of Monteiro, Tarquini, Bennani and Michelisz, the latter up from 11th. Thompson moves up to 10th. Coronel is first of the Chevrolet group in eighth.Lap 2 – The engine cover of Chilton’s Cruze is loose.Lap 3 – Valente chases Huff for 12th place but runs wide and sees Morbidelli pass him with a bit of door-rubbing. Muller sets provisional fastest lap.Lap 4 – Despite being hampered by his engine cover, Chilton keeps on chasing Coronel for 8th position. Morbidelli passes Huff.Lap 5 – Chilton pits while Loeb closes in on Michelisz. Morbidelli is on a roll and passes Thompson for 9th. Muller again betters the fastest lap time for the fourth consecutive lap. Engstler leads the TC2T class.Lap 8 – Huff outbrakes Thompson in Turn 1 for 10th; Valente does the same two corners later and Borković, who started last, follows suit in Turn 4.Lap 9 – Huff goes sideways in Turn 2 and is passed by Valente a corner later.Lap 12 – Engstler runs wide in Turn 4 which allows Di Sabatino to close up and pass his team boss in the next Turn.

Quotes from Race 1 podium finishers at Hungaroring

Yvan Muller: “This is a track where we all know it’s difficult to overtake, so having a good start was key to the outcome of the race. In the beginning I pushed hard to create a gap over José María (López), so from the moment I had roughly 1.8 seconds in hand I slowed down a bit and controlled my lead. I was very pleased with car in the first race, as it was important for me to score as many points as possible here and at the previous round in France to compensate for the zero-score in the second race in Marrakech.”

José María López: “I’m still a bit surprised to still be leading the championship standings after six races. The reason I didn’t win in the first race is because Yvan made the difference in qualifying. He’s probably the most complete driver in the WTCC and he doesn’t make any errors, so second in Race 1 was good enough for me.”

Tiago Monteiro: “I’m very happy and proud of the team for the work they’ve done this weekend. We’ve been playing catch-up so far this season, but today’s result shows that every little thing we can find helps make the Civic go faster.”

 Race 2

Morbidelli claims first win for Chevrolet

Gianni Morbidelli scored an epic WTCC win in the second race at the Hungaroring yesterday, leading from lights to chequered flag. The first for the Italian driver and the Chevrolet RML TC1 car.Honda’s Tiago Monteiro chased Morbidelli hard for the entire race, with the gap between the Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet and the works Honda never being more than 0.4 seconds, but in the end the Portuguese driver had to settle for second.Third place went to Frenchman Hugo Valente in the Campos Chevrolet RML Cruze, making it the first time this season a Citroën did not win the race and indeed the first podium without a Citroën driver.For the German Münnich Motorsport team the races in Budapest seem to bring luck, as the team won here as well last year with Rob Huff.Tom Coronel, who returned to the series this weekend after his massive accident in the opening round in Marrakech, finished in fourth ahead of the Citroën cars of Muller and Lopez.In the TC2T class it was business as usual, with the two Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW cars again finishing first and second, this time with Engstler ahead of Di Sabatino.

Key momentsGrid – Bennani does not take the start of the second race, having blown his turbo on the slow-down lap after Race 1.Start – Morbidelli and Monteiro both make a blitz-start, leading the way ahead of Valente and Coronel. Muller pushes López going into Turn 1 to claim 5th, having started 10th.Lap 1 – Morbidelli leads from Monteiro and Valente, the three drivers creating a bit of a gap to fourth-place Tom Coronel.Lap 2 – Muller passes Coronel going into Turn 1 but runs wide and Coronel takes back fourth. Chilton closes in on López.Lap 3 – Michelisz chases Loeb for 9th who in turn is eyeing Tarquini for 8th. Valente sets provisional fastest lap.Lap 4 – Kozlovskiy pits.Lap 5 – Monteiro sets fastest race lap chasing Morbidelli, who keeps a slim 0.3-second lead.Lap 6 – Borković passes Huff for 11th.Lap 9 – López closes in on Muller, but the four-time World Champion keeps the door closed.Lap 11 – Loeb tries to pass Tarquini for 8th going into Turn 1 but misses his target. Münnich passes Thompson for 13th.Lap 14 – Morbidelli resists a final attempt from Monteiro and Valente e crosses the line first.

Quotes from Race 2 podium finishers at Hungaroring

Gianni Morbidelli: “My victory may have looked easy from the outside, but I can tell you it wasn’t. After my brake issues yesterday in practice, I never thought to be able to win here. I half expected to see the Citroën cars arrive in my rear-view mirrors at some point, but they didn’t. Instead I had to fight hard to keep Tiago (Monteiro) at bay all 14 laps, but fortunately I had a near-perfect race and made no mistakes. Of course it also helped me that it is difficult to overtake here. I was faster in some corners and Tiago was a bit quicker on other parts of the track. I would like to dedicate this victory to the Münnich Motorsport team, as they have worked very, very hard to get where we are today.”

Tiago Monteiro: “I pushed Gianni (Morbidelli) hard throughout the entire race but he didn’t make any mistakes. Only on the last lap did he brake a bit late going into the chicane, we touched but I lifted as I didn’t want to pass him like that. This then allowed Hugo (Valente) to close in on us, but in the end all was well.”

Hugo Valente: “The start was crucial to my race. Gianni (Morbidelli) had a better start and Tiago (Monteiro) surprised me, so I took Turn 1 in third position. They had good scrap all race long, but I just couldn’t get closer. On the last lap, I tried to profit from Gianni braking late at the chicane, but both kept their cars on the black stuff. All in all, a good weekend with a second WTCC podium finish.”


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