Hungaroring, Race 1 : Bennani wins wild wet race

Sebastien Loeb Racing make 1-2 finish

By Emmanuel Touzot

24 April 2016 - 16:18
Hungaroring, Race 1 : Bennani wins (...)

Bennani led from start to finish in the difficult conditions while others struggled on incorrect tyre choices. His factory Citroën counterparts Yvan Muller and José María López were among those to gamble on slicks, lapping 20 seconds off the pace before eventually pitting for wet tyres and finishing a lap down in 13th and 14th.

Fredrik Ekblom held second for the first part of the race before being passed by Nicky Catsburg, but the Dutchman would himself be overhauled by a charging Chilton on the penultimate lap.

Gabriele Tarquini pitted after the two formation laps to fit wet tyres and came through to finishing on the tail of Ekblom in fifth and ahead of his team-mate Hugo Valente. Grégoire Demoustier claimed his best ever result in seventh in the third Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroën, who equalled his top result in eighth despite serving a drive-through penalty for a false start.

Ferenc Ficza took his first points in ninth to give something for the Hungarian fans to cheer after their hero Norbert Michelisz suffered an engine failure prior to the start. Like Citroën, Honda was left rueing its tyre choices with Rob Huff being passed for the final point late on by René Münnich, despite the ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport man being handed a penalty for first-lap contact with Tom Coronel.

The Main Race is due to begin at 17h15 local time.

Pos. Driver Team Car Time
1 Mehdi Bennani Sebastien Loeb Racing Citroen 14 laps
2 Tom Chilton Sebastien Loeb Racing Citroen +3.313
3 Nicky Catsburg LADA Sport Lada +6.367
4 Fredrik Ekblom Polestar Cyan Volvo +13.918
5 Gabriele Tarquini LADA Sport Lada +14.566
6 Hugo Valente LADA Sport Lada +29.575
7 Grégoire Demoustier Sebastien Loeb Racing Citroen +34.530
8 John Filippi Campos Racing Chevrolet +47.418
9 Ferenc Ficza Zengo Honda +52.927
10 Rene Munnich Munnich Motorsport Chevrolet +108.021
11 Rob Huff Honda Racing Team JAS Honda +118.809
12 Tiago Monteiro Honda Racing Team JAS Honda +146.774
13 Yvan Muller Citroen Total WTCC Citroen +1 lap
14 Jose Maria Lopez Citroen Total WTCC Citroen +1 lap
15 Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet +1 lap
16 Thed Bjork Polestar Cyan Volvo +1 lap
17 Norbert Michelisz Honda Racing Team JAS Honda DNF

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