Yvan Muller wins another frenetic race at Ningbo

Yvan Muller had led a Lynk & Co 1-2 in the second race of the day ahead of his Cyan Racing nephew Yann Ehrlacher, and has launched into title contention, now just 17 points behind new leader Norbert Michelisz, but could yet lead the championship before the evening’s out.

After a chaotic first race, the officials informed all drivers not to leave the track after the races due to ongoing investigations, with Race 2 winner Norbert Michelisz just one of the incidents being looked at for an incident with Andy Priaulx’s car.

At the start, a four-car wide squeeze between the Cupra of Daniel Haglöf, the Audis of Frédéric Vervisch and Jean-Karl Vernay, and the Honda of Néstor Girolami saw Haglöf and Vernay come off worse as both were spun out and into retirement.

At Turn 4, Michelisz ran into the rear of Priaulx’s car again, although this time potentially with help – but Michelisz’s came off worse this time and had to retire his car, while Priaulx rejoined.

BRC Hyundai driver Nicky Catsburg then passed the Comtoyou Cupra of Aurélien Panis for third before the safety car was out to recover Vernay’s car.

The race briefly restarted on lap five, but at the final corner, the Volkswagen of Mehdi Bennani spun Tiago Monteiro’s KCMG Honda into the wall and that caused another safety car.

The race resumed one last time on lap ten, with Panis trying to get back past Catsburg but found himself squeezed by the Hyundai of Gabriele Tarquini with Augusto Farfus joining the fray, with Catsburg forced out wide and picking up a puncture.

Bennani was given a drive-through for his part in the Monteiro incident on lap 11, while on lap 12, Farfus surrendered third to Tarquini.

The man to watch was Ma Qing Hua, whose repaired Alfa Romeo was flying through the field, but his last foil was the Münnich Honda of Néstor Girolami, clashing on lap 15 with Ma’s car sustaining damage.

Up front, the race was being controlled by the French relatives, with Muller going on to take the win by four-tenths ahead of Ehrlacher, with Tarquini securing the final podium spot.

Farfus finished fourth, with Thed Björk’s Lynk & Co fifth.

Despite not scoring, Michelisz still leads the drivers’ championship by 16 points over Guerrieri, while Muller is just one point behind.

Should Michelisz be penalised with a time penalty for Race 2, this could mean Muller ends up with the championship lead, with the evening set aside for a series of stewards’ investigations.

The next round of the championship takes place on October 26th-27th at Suzuka, Japan.