Photo: WTCC Media

Tom Chilton leads Rob Huff in a wild opening race at Monza

By

Tom Chilton took the first win for a Citroën of the 2017 season in a frenetic race at Monza, holding off Münnich Motorsport’s Rob Huff, also in a Citroën, in a race filled with drama from the start.

ROAL Chevrolet driver Tom Coronel was set to start from pole position, but a stall for the Dutch driver on the parade lap foretold what was to happen at the start proper. As Coronel stalled again, Mehdi Bennani sailed into the lead ahead of his Sébastien Loeb Racing team-mate Tom Chilton, with Norbert Michelisz up to third in his Honda.

Michelisz overtook Chilton at the Rettifilo at the start of lap two, with Polestar Volvo’s Néstor Girolami following him through, but the race was soon over for the Argentinian, instantly suffering a suspension issue and returned to the pits.

On the following lap, Michelisz dived down the inside of Bennani at the Parabolica for the lead, but as the Moroccan turned in, the two made contact and locked wheels with both retiring with damage. This promoted Chilton into the lead ahead of Campos Chevrolet’s Esteban Guerrieri, with Münnich’s Rob Huff in third.

Huff got ahead of Guerrieri on lap five down the straight, and then closed in on his fellow countryman, but was unable to overtake the identical C-Elysée, never able to find somewhere to try a pass.

Behind the two Citroëns, a busy battle raged on between points leader Tiago Monteiro and Thed Björk, as they worked their way forward, with Monteiro passing Guerrieri at the Della Roggia for the final podium spot on lap six, and made a break away from Björk.

The Swede took another two laps to get past the Chevrolet, with the Cruze showing great pace in a straight line.

Tom Coronel recovered to finish sixth, ahead of the SLR Citroën of John Filippi, with Nicky Catsburg finishing eighth in a battle-damaged Volvo, with Kevin Gleason picking up the first points for RC Motorsport Lada on his WTCC debut, with Daniel Nagy also scoring his first points in the WTCC with tenth.

Race 2 follows at 14:15 CET, with Thed Björk on pole position ahead of Tiago Monteiro and Rob Huff.