Huff wins as Tarquini retakes advantage in the points

Rob Huff converted a great start into a lights-to-flag victory in WTCR’s second race at Suzuka. Gabriele Tarquini finished fifth and rebuilt a 10-point lead in the standings, as his closer competitor in the title fight, Yvan Muller, finished just out of the points.
At the start, Huff took the inside line into T1 and overtook pole sitter Pepe Oriola, while Denis Dupont retained third place from Norbert Michelisz and Aurélien Panis.
During the opening lap, Tarquini moved up to sixth overtaking Aurélien Comte; immediately afterwards Esteban Guerrieri made contact with Mehdi Bennani and went off at T2, which prompted the safety car into action.
Racing resumed on lap 3, Kevin Ceccon overtook Bennani for eighth and Michelisz overtook Dupont for third. Ceccon gained another position on lap 7, passing Conte for seventh. On lap 8, Dupont dropped three positions behind Panis, Tarquini and Ceccon.
Huff went on to take his second win of the season while Oriola defended his second place from Michelisz’s assaults.
In the standings, Tarquini leads with 261 point, Muller is second with 251, Thed Björk third with 234 and Oriola moved up to fourth with 227.
Race 3 will start at 12:30 local time (04:39 CET) with an all-Italian front row: the Alfa Romeo Giulietta of Kevin Ceccon on pole position and Gabriele Tarquini’s Hyundai alongside him.