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Huff played it perfectly

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In tricky and changing weather conditions Robert Huff played it perfectly, and won the first WTCC-race at Anderstorp in Sweden. This was the Englishmans first victory this year.

Once again a heavy rainshower soaked the track before the start, but when the race got underway the rain had stopped. This made for some different set-up and tyre choices for the drivers.

The drivers at the front all chosed wet tyres but different set-ups. Robert Huff got a good start from third place and could steal the inside line into turn 1 and open up a gap. Halfway through the race he had a six second lead but that gap was eaten up on the drying track. In the end he managed to keep the lead and get the win.
“This weekend started very difficult, but we found a good set-up for qualifying that worked really well, he commented. I made a good start and found the inside line and could open up a nice gap. But it was hard on the tires and in the end I had no tires left, so the rain in the final laps really saved me.”

Tiago Monteiro finished second and recorded his best finish in WTCC so far. Being on pole he went for a dry set-up but wet tires. That made his first laps difficult fighting his teammate Jordi Gené but he could secure second place in the end and almost make a challenge for the lead.
“You always want more of course but I am pleased. It was a difficult race and we made a little gamble with the set-up. Roberts gap in the beginning won him the race, with a few more corners I could have won but overall I’m very satisfied.”

Third place went to James Thompson who stormed up through the field in the end from ninth place on the grid. Interestingly enough he went for wet tires.
“Usually I’m always the one who gamble so I’m almost a bit disappointed with myself for not gambling today. But I’ll take the six points, he smiled. I think qualifying hid our real performance somewhat so it was a good charge from the back. I tried to conserve the tires in the beginning which helped me in the final laps.”

With no BMW-drivers in the points in race 1 the drivers behind caught some ground in the championship.