Triple and double wins for the Cruzes in Brazil

One win each for Muller and Huff, Menu twice 2nd

CURITIBA, 22 July 2012: Chevrolet posted another great result in the WTCC championship, winning both races and claiming five of six podium places in Curitiba, Brazil, on Sunday.

Podium: race winner Yvan Muller, second place Alain Menu, third place Robert Huff

Photo by: xpb.cc

Yvan Muller, Alain Menu and Rob Huff signed off the sixth triple win of the year in Race 1, while Huff and Menu made it a 1-2 in Race 2, with Yvan finishing 4th . The Bamboo Engineering Cruzes confirmed the excellent results in qualifying, taking 5th and 6th in Race 1 with Michel Nykjær and Alex McDowall respectively. The Dane clinched another points finish (6th) in the second race.

Race 1 saw the three Cruzes of Muller, Menu, Huff comfortably keep the top places conquered in the qualifying.

The Cruzes started from positions 8, 9 and 10 in Race 2 and the fight was immediately intense with Huff, Menu and Muller crawling up the leaderboard. In lap 10, Huff took the lead from SEAT driver Gabriele Tarquini. Three laps later, Menu also passed the Italian to take 2nd, while Muller finished two places behind.

Chevrolet further increased its advantage in the Manufacturers’ standings, while the fight for the Drivers’ crown was thrown wide open with a mere 27 points separating the three Chevrolet drivers.

The WTCC is now taking a break before the most-awaited event of the year: on 21-23 September, the world’s top touring car series will head to Sonoma in California, the first ever series race in the United States.

Rob Huff (3rd/1st): “It’s very nice to win for the third time this year and reducing, albeit by only one point, the gap with Yvan in the standings. I was a little bit disappointed with 3rd position in Race 1, but there is nothing you can do when you are behind Yvan and Alain.

Robert Huff, Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T, Chevrolet

Photo by: xpb.cc

“In Race 2, everything went wonderfully. We changed the set-up slightly in between races and the car was just fantastic, I could really put it where I wanted. The move on Gabriele was great and I am very happy of this win – it’s just what I needed.”

Yvan Muller (1st/4th): “It’s not a bad weekend at all as we leave Brazil with a relative status quo in the championship. Winning Race 1 may have seemed easy on TV, but it wasn’t as we were all extremely close and the pace was quite fast.

“In Race 2, I gained some positions at the start, but then Alain and Rob seemed to have a little bit more of speed than me. I got stuck behind Tarquini, but 4th is not a bad result.”

Alain Menu (2nd/2nd): “I am happy with the two 2nd places, although I would have liked to win.

In Race 1, I pushed to overtake Yvan, but he made no mistakes and it would have been too risky to attack him.

“In Race 2, I had the car to win but Rob pulled away by the time I overtook Gabriele (Tarquini), one which I consider my best ever in my WTCC career. That’s my take away from Brazil.”

Eric Nève: “It’s another great day for the team, the drivers and all of us, a day emblematic of Chevrolet’s eight-year journey in the championship. That’s what I was thinking when I climbed on the podium and that’s why I got a little bit emotional. It’s a champagne shower that I will remember.”

Source: Chevrolet WTCC Racing