WTCC 2014, Suzuka, Honda Wins With Tarquini

The Honda Civic driven by Gabriele Tarquini gave the factory team its first win of the season in the reversed-grid race at Suzuka. The Italian and JAS team-mate Tiago Monteiro struggled for performance on new tyres in qualifying and lined up tenth and eleventh on the grid for race one.

Crucially, Tarquini’s position earned him pole for thee reversed-grid race, and the former WTCC champion was unchallenged to reward Honda with a home win. Dusan Borkovic became the first Serbian to stand on a world championship podium by taking second place. The Campos Chevrolet driver survived being tapped by the chasing Norbert Michelisz into Suzuka’s final chicane on the opening lap. Borkovic took to the escape road and continued with no apparent loss of pace to finish 2.6s ahead of Zengo Honda driver Michelisz at the chequered flag.

Former Japanese Formula 3 and Formula Nippon champion Tom Coronel was kept busy in the closing laps as heavy pressure was applied from the Citroen trio of Yvan Muller, new champion Jose Maria Lopez and Sebastien Loeb. Perhaps chastened after clouting Hugo Valente earlier in the race, Muller resisted any further bold overtaking efforts, and the Dutch veteran held his cool to take fourth.

Lopez had shoulder-rubbed his way past Loeb on the exit of Spoon earlier in the race, proving that overtaking on the Suzuka Grand Prix circuit was possible if a challenge. Valente was knocked out of fifth place by Muller at the hairpin on lap four. The Campos driver had extended a small gap over Muller, but took an extremely wide line into the hairpin that invited a lunge from the number one C-Elysee. Muller smacked into the rear of Cruze but emerged from a scramble of tyre smoke on the exit of the corner maintaining his position ahead of his two team-mates.