Back-to-back victories for Yvan Muller gave the RML team a dream start to the 2013 FIA World Touring Car Championship 2013 season. Following Chevrolet’s decision to withdraw from the WTCC, a deal to run a pair of Chevrolet Cruze cars was done at the last minute and so a 1-2 in the first race and another victory and fifth place in the second must have left team members pinching themselves as they left the Monza circuit. Tom Chilton’s first race weekend with the RML team also went like clockwork.
The Honda team will also be pleased with the race – Gabriele Tarquini gave the Civic its first podium finish by holding off a determined charge from the SEAT of Marc Basseng to finish third in Race 2. In the Yokohama Trophy, there were wins for Alex MacDowall of bamboo-engineering and Michel Nykjær of Nika Racing – both men driving Chevrolet cars.
The reigning World Champion, Rob Huff, will be pleased just to have taken away some points from Monza after a clash on the first lap of qualifying left his SEAT León with broken suspension. Starting from the back of the grid in both races as a result, Huff carved his way through the field to finish sixth in Race 1 and tenth in Race 2. Not so fortunate were the two LADA Sport Lukoil drivers; Aleksei Dudukalo missed his braking point in the same qualifying session and crashed into his teammate James Thompson. Although Thompson was able to go on to qualify ninth, both cars were too badly damaged to race and the team withdrew them. The championship will resume at Marrakech, Morocco, on April 7 for rounds 3 and 4.
