Race report
WTCC Moscow
Muller closes gap on Lopez with Moscow opener win
Yvan Muller took his third win of the 2015 WTCC season at Moscow Raceway, leading home Citroen teammate Jose Maria Lopez by three seconds.
Edited: Jun 7, 2015, 10:50 AM
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At the start, Muller got the jump ahead of Lopez, and went on to win without much pressure from teammate Lopez, who had his own troubles with Gabriele Tarquini for the bulk of the race.
The championship leader was aided by the strong charge from Lada’s Rob Huff, who attacked the Italian’s Honda Civic at every turn for the final podium position.
Ma Qing Hua jumped to fifth at the start, where he would remain for the remainder ahead of Tom Chilton in the best of the Chevrolets and Norbert Michelisz's Honda.
Muller’s win sees him reduce the points gap to teammate Lopez to 43 points heading into the second race, where the four-time champion will start from 10th on the reversed grid, while Honda’s Tiago Monteiro will start from pole.
The Portuguese finished the first race in eighth with an early move on Sebastien Loeb, who struggled around the Russian circuit relative to his teammates en route to a lowly ninth.
The final point went to Jaap Van Lagen, who charged through the pack after a poor first lap, passing series returnee Rickard Rydell on lap four, getting ahead of Hugo Valente at the final corner on lap six, and repeating the same move on his Lada teammate Nick Catsburg three laps later to secure 10th.
There was drama for the Dutch veteran at the start, as compatriot Tom Coronel spun across the nose of Van Lagen, while Stefano D’Aste in the Munnich Motorsport Chevrolet ran into the back of Mehdi Bennani’s Citroen, with Bennani and Coronel both ending up chasing the pack as a result.
John Filippi was the first retirement of the race after a coming together with Gregoire Demoustier on the fourth lap and collecting gravel in the radiator grill of his Chevrolet, with Coronel becoming the second and last retirement after pitting on the final lap while in 17th and last position.
Race results:
Pos Driver Car Time/Gap 1 Yvan Muller Citroen 27'04.214 2 Jose Maria Lopez Citroen 2.933 3 Gabriele Tarquini Honda 4.392 4 Rob Huff Lada 4.684 5 Ma Qing Hua Citroen 7.082 6 Tom Chilton Chevrolet 8.724 7 Norbert Michelisz Honda 10.394 8 Tiago Monteiro Honda 12.809 9 Sebastien Loeb Citroen 13.463 10 Jaap van Lagen Lada 14.044 11 Nick Catsburg Lada 18.239 12 Hugo Valente Chevrolet 20.870 13 Rickard Rydell Honda 24.517 14 Mehdi Bennani Citroen 33.791 15 Stefano D'Aste Chevrolet 36.562 16 Gregoire Demoustier Chevrolet 41.523 17 Tom Coronel Chevrolet 1 Lap Ret John Filippi Chevrolet -
Neil Hudson / TouringCarTimes
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