Rob Huff sets early pace in Japan

Best time for the Bristish driver

By Franck Drui

29 October 2010 - 10:18
Rob Huff sets early pace in Japan

Chevrolet’s Rob Huff ended on top of the timesheets as the penultimate event of the WTCC 2010 season got underway this afternoon in Japan. Huff emerged as the fastest with 10-minutes to go but improved again to set a final time of 1:38.059 around the 3.7-kilometre Okayama International Circuit.

His teammate and current championship leader, Yvan Muller (1:38.698) was second quickest. Following a win apiece last year, the BMWs looked strong yet again with Andy Priaulx (1:38.779) ending the 30-minute test session third using a 6-speed sequential gearbox for the first time. His team-mate, Augusto Farfus (1:3.028) was fifth.

Chevrolet’s Alain Menu (1:38.794) was fourth with SR-Sport team-mates Tiago Monteiro (1:39.381) and Tom Coronel (1:39.453) sixth and seventh, despite the Dutchman locking up and running through the gravel at Turn 1 early in the session.

Darryl O’Young (1:39.503) was impressive in his Chevrolet Lacetti finishing the best independent in eighth position overall. Robert Dahlgren also had a good showing recording a 1:39.510 in his Volvo C30 to be placed ninth.

Michel Nykjær (1:39.628) rounded out the top ten to end the day as best rookie.
With a season record of 27 cars out on track, Yukinori Taniguchi (1:39.904) was quickest of the four Japanese drivers, clocking the in 15th best lap.

Reigning champion Gabriele Tarquini (1:40.674) finished 17th, losing running time after suffering a front left puncture. After he took a shortcut to the garages across the paddock the team got him back out for the final minutes.

Pos. Driver Car Time Gap
01 R. Huff Chevrolet Cruze 1m38.059s
02 Y. Muller Chevrolet Cruze 1m38.698s +0.639s
03 A. Priaulx BMW 320si 1m38.779s +0.720s
04 A. Menu Chevrolet Cruze 1m38.794s +0.735s
05 A. Farfus BMW 320si 1m39.028s +0.969s
06 T. Monteiro Seat Leon TDI 1m39.381s +1.322s
07 T. Coronel Seat Leon TDI 1m39.453s +1.394s
08 D. O’Young Chevrolet Lacetti 1m39.503s +1.444s
09 R. Dahlgren Volvo C30 1m39.510s +1.451s
10 M. Nykjaer Seat Leon TDI 1m39.628s +1.569s
11 C. Turkington BMW 320si 1m39.661s +1.602s
12 F. Barth Seat Leon TDI 1m39.664s +1.605s
13 K. Poulsen BMW 320si 1m39.681s +1.622s
14 N. Michelisz Seat Leon TDI 1m39.684s +1.625s
15 Y. Taniguchi Chevrolet Lacetti 1m39.904s +1.845s
16 S. Hernandez BMW 320si 1m40.214s +2.155s
17 G. Tarquini Seat Leon TDI 1m40.479s +2.420s
18 S. D’Aste BMW 320si 1m40.596s +2.537s
19 M. Rossi Seat Leon TDI 1m40.641s +2.582s
20 M. Bennani BMW 320si 1m40.913s +2.854s
21 F. Engstler BMW 320si 1m40.990s +2.931s
22 M. Yanagida BMW 320si 1m41.589s +3.530s
23 H. Ho BMW 320si 1m42.080s +4.021s
24 N. Taniguchi BMW 320si 1m42.335s +4.276s
25 A. Romanov BMW 320si 1m42.559s +4.500s
26 K. Chen BMW 320si 1m43.751s +5.692s
27 Y. Ito BMW 320si 1m43.798s +5.739s

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