2009 WTCC : Chevrolet CRUZE claimed double victory again.

Robert Huff - Chevrolet CRUZE - Race 1 Winner

PAU, France : May 17, 2009 - Chevrolet achieved their fourth consecutive win with Rob Huff and Alain Menu on the top podium spot.

Race 1 - Rob Huff wins again

Robert Huff took his second win in three races for Chevrolet. The Briton got a great start from third and overtook Farfus who hit some oil and went wide at Pont Oscar on lap 2. Huff led the pack for the remaining 17 laps with Augusto Farfus and Jörg Müller having to settle for second and third despite applying constant pressure on the front man. Perseverance paid out for Andy Priaulx who crossed the line fourth, having passed Alain Menu on lap 12. Spaniard Sergio Hernández made good progress in the second half of the race to secure fifth place overall with fellow countryman Félix Porteiro winning the Independent category in 6th overall. Another Independent driver, Franz Engstler, finished seventh while Menu came home eighth to start Race to on pole.

Man of the race
Robert Huff has come into form over the past two events. After a race win in Marrakech the man from Cambridgeshire kept momentum at Pau and was on the pace for qualifying. A good start and capitalisation on Farfus’ bad luck was enough to give him lead in Race 1 but the win was not easy. With Farfus and Müller hot on his tail and light rain from lap seven, Huff’s cool head served him well.

Key moment
At Pont Oscar on lap two the then leader Augusto Farfus hit a patch of oil and went wide allowing Robert Huff to take the lead and eventual win. The Brazilian explained “The BMW goes into turn three in a higher gear than the Chevrolet. I lost momentum because of the oil and Huff had better acceleration.”
Both Huff and Farfus agreed the BMW was the faster car and could have won the race if it were not for the oil taking Farfus wide.

Withdrawals
N. Larini: race incident; K. Ladygin: race incident; L. Cazenave: clutch; S. D’Aste: race incident; J. Van Lagen: power steering.

Race 2 – Menu encores for Chevrolet

Chevrolet achieved their fourth consecutive win and this time it was Alain Menu on the top podium spot. He was joined by team-mate Robert Huff who crossed the line third and Augusto Farfus from BMW Team Germany took second place just as in Race 1.
The race was suspended when Franz Engstler crashed with the safety car. The incident is being investigated by the Stewards.
During the first lap Félix Porteiro hit Sergio Hernández with the later not being able to rejoin. Porteiro was given a drive-through penalty. Jörg Müller and Andy Priaulx also made contact with each other in lap one. While Priaulx continued and crossed the line fourth, Müller received a drive-through penalty for pitting during the suspension of the race and finished 18th. Alessandro Zanardi stormed through the pack to achieve fifth place and SEAT Sport men Gabriele Tarquini and Yvan Muller scored points in sixth and seventh.
The race ended under the red flags with one lap remaining after Eric Cayrolle and Nicola Larini, who were battling for eighth spot, were involved in a collision.

Man of the race
Local man Eric Cayrolle from SUNRED Engineering battled with bravado in Race 2. He started the race 10th and managed to hold his own despite this weekend being his first in the SEAT León. Not only did Cayrolle win the Independent trophy in the race, he claimed eighth place. A successful home appearance to say the least.

Key moment
Andy Priaulx and Jörg Müller began Race 2 from fifth and sixth from the grid. With this in mind a win for either wouldn’t have been out of the question. However, on lap one at the Railway hairpin, Müller was on the outside of Priaulx who drove wide and squeezed the German between his car and the barriers.
Müller was forced to pit for repairs, while the Briton continued to finish fourth but with blistering pace it makes you wonder what he could have achieved without this incident.

Withdrawals
S. D’Aste: did not start; S. Hernández: race incident; F. Engstler: race incident; T. Boardman: race incident; R. Rydell: race incident; M. Bennani: race incident; K. Ladygin: driveshaft.

Driver's Championship
Pos.	Driver - Nationality	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Total
1	Yvan MULLER (FRA)	10	5	5	10	5	8	0	2	45
2	Augusto FARFUS (BRA)	4	3	8	5	0	3	8	8	39
3	Gabriele TARQUINI (ITA)	5	10	3	1	8	4	0	3	34
4	Robert HUFF (GBR)	0	0	0	0	10	6	10	6	32
5	Rickard RYDELL (SWE)	6	8	10	6	0	0	0	0	30
6	Andy PRIAULX (GBR)	2	0	6	8	0	0	5	5	26
7	Jordi GENÉ (ESP)	8	6	2	2	6	0	0	0	24
8	Jörg MÜLLER (GER)	0	4	4	0	1	5	6	0	20
9	Nicola LARINI (ITA)	0	0	1	0	3	10	0	0	14
10	Alain MENU (SUI)	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	10	13
11	Sergio HERNÁNDEZ (ESP)	3	0	0	4	0	0	4	0	11
12	Alessandro ZANARDI (ITA)	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	4	7
13	Félix PORTEIRO (ESP)	1	2	0	0	0	0	3	0	6
14	Tiago MONTEIRO (POR)	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	4
15	Franz ENGSTLER (GER)	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	4
16	Tom CORONEL (NED)	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	2
17	Eric CAYROLLE (FRA)	-	-	-	-	-	-	0	1	1