Zolder - Race2: Tarquini stops Chevrolet

Gabriele Tarquini put in a fantastic effort to claim his first victory of the season and stop Chevrolet winning streak after three consecutive successes.

Having inherited pole on the reverse grid as Barth was unable to make the field, Tarquini took a great start and managed to keep the Chevrolet trio behind. In the first half of the race the Italian did not offer Rob Huff any opportunity for overtaking and when the Briton tried to muscle his way past him, Tarquini proved he still has enough grit to defend the lead.

With Yvan Muller and Huff in troubles, Alain Menu and Tiago Monteiro went for the other podium spots, just ahead of Darryl O’Young who claimed his first victory in the Yokohama Trophy.

Polestar Racing’s Robert Dahlgren finished in seventh and become the first driver to score WTCC points in a Volvo car.

Key moments
Start – Bennani, Michelisz, Sonderegger and Engstler start from the pit lane
Start – Tarquini leads from Huff, Menu and Muller; Villa stalls his engine
Lap 1 – Poulsen crashes at the chicane
Lap 2 – Nykjær overtakes Dahlgren for ninth
Lap 4 – Taniguchi goes off at L. Bianchi and rejoins
Lap 6 – Muller drives wide at L. Bianchi, breaks the oil radiator and retires in the pit
Lap 7 – Huff and Tarquini make contact at Villeneuve; Huff cuts the chicanes, takes the lead but then drops down
Lap 10 – Taniguchi spins at Jerlamen Bocht and rejoins
Lap 11 – Sonderegger drives wide at J. Rindt and rejoins

Withdrawals
T. Coronel: DNS; F. Barth: DNS; M. Lee: DNS; Poulsen: race incident; Y. Muller: oil radiator.