Menu and Muller dejected after race two collision

Despite finishing first and second in both today’s races, Alain Menu leaves Shanghai an unhappy man, losing a strong chance for victory in race two after contact with Yvan Muller, whilst Yvan Muller scores no points on a race day for the first time since Brno 2010.

Alain Menu won race one comfortably from pole position and looked set to win the second race from tenth on the grid, a feat not seen since Yvan Muller won both races at Monza back in March, until Muller hit him going into Turn 1 on lap eight.

The two drivers fell behind Rob Huff, and the stewards later handed Muller a drive through penalty which dropped him out of the points.

“Race 1 was perfect,” said Menu. “I kept my team-mates at bay at the start and first corner, and then controlled the remainder of the race. With Yvan out of the race, I reduced the gap in the championship considerably.”

“Race 2 was a different story. I was leading comfortably until Yvan made contact with me. The only thing I can say at this stage is that unfortunately, my chances for the championship ahead of Macau have been significantly reduced.”

Alain Menu’s now 35 points behind Huff going to Macau, whilst Yvan Muller’s worst weekend in two years sees the Frenchman, after leading or jointly-leading the championship all year, drop 41 points behind Huff heading into the final round of the season.

“In Race 1, I was touched from behind by Michelisz and went sideways before being knocked about by many other cars as chaos reigned in the group behind me,” said Muller. “Unfortunately, my right rear wheel was damaged and my race ended there.”

“In Race 2, I was right behind Alain when we made contact in a braking zone. I am really sorry as it wasn’t intentional. We now go to Macau with a completely different situation. We’ll see what happens.”