Citroën’s Ma Qing Hua scored a historic first win for a Chinese driver in the second World Touring Car Championship race, holding off team-mate Yvan Muller for the victory.
Ma, who started from second on the grid, lost out to Zengo Motorsport’s Norbert Michelisz at the start of the race, but repassed the Hungarian for the effective lead at the end of lap seven.
The Chinese driver then inherited the lead as a result of early leader and pole-sitter Hugo Valente being handed a drive-through penalty for having not had the tyres on his car when the five-minute board was shown.
Although Muller, who had earlier been as low as ninth in a frantic race for the Frenchman, continued to close the gap to Ma, he allowed the Chinese driver to take victory at the line, despite Ma slowing in an apparent attempt to give Muller the lead.
Proteam Racing’s Mehdi Bennani scored his first podium result of the season in third, having been involved in a close battle which saw Michelisz lose out on the penultimate lap.
Tom Coronel was the top Chevrolet driver in fourth, having defended heavily against Citroën’s Sébastien Loeb in fifth. Tom Chilton finished sixth for ROAL Motorsport, having also passed Michelisz at the same time as Loeb at the final corner on the final lap. The Hungarian eventually finished in seventh.
Gianni Morbidelli headed up a Chevrolet quartet in eighth, with Valente applying heavy pressure in the second half of the race after his penalty. The Campos driver couldn’t find a way past though and had to settle for ninth.
René Münnich completed the top ten with his second points finish of the season, ahead of a recovering Dušan Borković who started the race from the pitlane after his race one damaged was frantically repaired between the races.
Championship leader José María López had his first non-score and retirement of the season, with the Argentinian suffering a gearbox failure that left him on the grid.
There were also problems for both works Hondas during the race, with first Gabriele Tarquini slowing when running in fourth and later Tiago Monteiro slowing when also running in fourth. Both drivers would retire from the race.
LADA’s local driver Mikhail Kozlovskiy retired from the race on the opening lap, after contact with team-mate James Thompson damaged the front-left of his car. Rob Huff also failed to finish the race, retiring with technical problems.
Top ten result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP | GD |
| 1 | 33 | TC1 | MA Qing Hua |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 16 | 16 LAPS | 1:41.142 | 2 |
| 2 | 1 | TC1 | Yvan MULLER |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 16 | 1.261 | 1:41.110 | 5 |
| 3 | 25 | TC1 | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Proteam Racing | Honda Civic WTCC | 16 | 12.252 | 1:41.267 | 4 |
| 4 | 4 | TC1 | Tom CORONEL |  |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 16 | 12.424 | 1:41.127 | 13 |
| 5 | 9 | TC1 | Sébastien LOEB | |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 16 | 14.725 | 1:41.405 | 7 |
| 6 | 3 | TC1 | Tom CHILTON |  |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 16 | 14.89 | 1:41.034 | 6 |
| 7 | 5 | TC1 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 16 | 15.118 | 1:41.297 | 3 |
| 8 | 10 | TC1 | Gianni MORBIDELLI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 16 | 19.894 | 1:40.982 | 17 |
| 9 | 7 | TC1 | Hugo VALENTE | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 16 | 20.157 | 1:40.742 | 1 |
| 10 | 77 | TC1 | René MÜNNICH |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 16 | 20.984 | 1:41.582 | 11 |