Tom Chilton took a sideswipe at Gabriele Tarquini following the opening World Touring Car Championship race in Qatar after he lost the lead, with the Brit still reeling after their contact in Shanghai.
In the Opening Race, Tarquini got the better of Chilton at the restart and passed into Turn 1 when Chilton ran wide.
Thereafter Chilton acted as a ‘cork in the bottle’, unable to keep pace with Tarquini ahead and driving defensively to prevent Rob Huff from passing him for second.
In the end Chilton was able to prevail to take his fourth second-place finish of the season, admitting that he and his team did not make the best use of the red flag period which stopped the race for around 15 minutes.
“I knew from the start of the Opening Race I was struggling through the first couple of corners because my tyres weren’t quite ready,” explained Chilton. “I managed to push just a little bit more and it started to come to me.
“But then there was a red flag and I knew as soon as I saw that we are allowed to do anything to the tyres on the grid and we didn’t, so I really struggled for grip at the beginning.”
The last time that Chilton and Tarquini met on the tarmac in Shanghai it spelt the end of the Brit’s challenge for the independent’s WTCC Trophy. Consequently, Chilton was relieved that Tarquini was able to pass without contact this time around.
“On the restart, I was weaving, I pulled away from Gabriele to start the last run but I had so much understeer at the last corner to start the lap. When I came out of it I was thinking ‘this is good, this is good’ but then Gabriele was right on my bumper.
“I knew it would be tough for half a lap but he managed to get past me without hitting me, which was great.”
Chilton praised fellow Brit Huff for their close battle for second, which saw the duo drop to more than seven seconds behind race leader Tarquini at one stage.
“The fight between me and Rob Huff was pure class. It was inch-by-inch perfect and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. Every lap was like a qualifying lap.
“We’re carrying 80 kg of ballast and we’re having to monitor the tyre life and push hard like we do in qualifying.
“It was very exciting and I’m so happy for the team, Sébastien Loeb Racing. They’ve done a fantastic job this weekend and it feels like we’ve won everything. It’s all gone our way [with Mehdi Bennani winning the Main Race], so well done to the team and well done to Mehdi for the win, it was fantastic.”