Rob Huff and Chevrolet received their crowns of the 2012 FIA World Touring Car Championship season at the FIA gala in Istanbul yesterday.
“It’s an amazing feeling to be World Champion. A couple of weeks after Macau I still have to sink in with the idea. And I am especially pleased, because the team made a gamble on me when they picked me up back in 2005, and I hope that I have shown they had made the right decision. It has been a perfect end to a fantastic venture,” said Huff.
Huff scored five victories, twelve podium finishes and two pole positions during the season to beat team mates and main rivals Alain Menu and Yvan Muller with 12 and 20 points respectively.
“This has been a hard year. The first three events were not especially great for me, but then it got better and better. I have changed my strategy for the season; last year I had focused on being the fastest and equalled Yvan on race wins and poles but had more fastest laps. I finished second in the Championship and learned a lesson: you don’t just need to be the fastest to win the title. This year I’ve been concentrating on the races with my car set-up, and it paid off!” said Huff.
Chevrolet claimed their third consecutive manufacturers’ trophy and Vijay Iyer, Chevrolet and Cadillac Europe Communications Director, collected the award.
“On behalf of our global Chevrolet team I want to thank our drivers and everybody at RML for the outstanding job, the commitment and the spirit shown during this entire season and the eight years of our partnership and presence in the WTCC. With over 1000 points scored in the Manufacturers’ classification it was a record season for us and to finish with a 1-2-3 in the last race at Macau was really symbolic of how great this experience has been for everyone involved,” said Iyer.
The end of the 2012 season also marks the end of the Chevrolet programme in the WTCC as the American manufacturer announced their withdrawal from the championship earlier this year.
“This has been a fantastic program for Chevrolet, which has brought a lot to our brand and the Chevrolet Cruze, with more than 1.7 million cars sold since we’ve launched. We say goodbye to the WTCC with a sense of pride for our achievements,” said Iyer.
