Yvan Muller headed a Citroën 1-2 in the first World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) race at the Moscow Raceway in Russia, beating team-mate José María López and Honda’s Gabriele Tarquini.
Muller, who started from pole position, lead the entire race from start to finish and was never challenged by title rival López, who eventually finished almost three seconds behind his team-mate.
Tarquini took third and his first podium of the season, despite late race pressure from the LADA of Rub Huff behind, with the Brit having to settle for fourth.
Ma Qing Hua was fifth for Citroën, having got the jump on ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Chilton at the start of the race, leaving the Brit to settle for sixth and finish as the top Chevrolet driver.
Zengő Motorsport’s Norbert Michelisz finished in seventh, having spent most of the race not quite close enough to challenge Chilton for position.
The second works’ Honda of Tiago Monteiro finished in eighth, with the Portuguese driver having passed Citroën’s Sébastien Loeb for the position on lap three, leaving Loeb to finish in ninth.
LADA’s Jaap van Lagen completed the top ten, despite the Dutchman having made contact with ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Coronel on the opening lap. The contact left Coronel in last, having been tagged into a high-speed slide by his compatriot, whilst Van Lagen was forced to battle back through the field, dropping to 13th as a result.
WTCC newcomer Nicky Catsburg finished just outside the points in 11th in his first race in the series, having to cede to fellow Dutchman Van Lagen on lap eight as his LADA team-mate recovered.
Campos Racing’s Hugo Valente was the biggest loser in the race, finishing in 12th having started the race in seventh, mostly losing out due to a poor start.
Rickard Rydell was 14th for Nika International, ahead of Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Mehdi Bennani, who lost a handful of positions when Stefano D’Aste spun him out on the opening lap.
D’Aste would finish in 15th, ahead of Craft-Bamboo’s Grégoire Demoustier in 16th, who himself had contact from Campos Racing’s John Filippi, which ultimately forced the Corsican out as the only retirement of the race.
Tom Coronel was classified in 17th and last, returning to the pits with a lap still to go as the Dutchman was unable to recover following his earlier contact with Van Lagen. Coronel later professed to have “no feeling with the car” as he struggled to recover.
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 68 | Yvan MULLER |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 16 | 16 LAPS | 1:40.449 | 1 | |
| 2 | 37 | José María LÓPEZ |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 16 | 2.933 | 1:40.584 | 2 | |
| 3 | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda Civic WTCC | 16 | 4.392 | 1:40.838 | 3 | |
| 4 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 16 | 4.684 | 1:40.714 | 4 | |
| 5 | 33 | MA Qing Hua |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 16 | 7.082 | 1:41.084 | 6 | |
| 6 | 3 | Y | Tom CHILTON | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 16 | 8.724 | 1:41.251 | 5 |
| 7 | 5 | Y | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 16 | 10.394 | 1:41.211 | 8 |
| 8 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda Civic WTCC | 16 | 12.809 | 1:41.085 | 10 | |
| 9 | 9 | Sébastien LOEB | |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 16 | 13.463 | 1:41.397 | 11 | |
| 10 | 46 | Jaap VAN LAGEN |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 16 | 14.044 | 1:40.759 | 12 | |
| 11 | 10 | Nick CATSBURG | |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 16 | 18.239 | 1:41.576 | 9 | |
| 12 | 7 | Y | Hugo VALENTE | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 16 | 20.87 | 1:41.676 | 7 |
| 13 | 19 | Rickard RYDELL |  |
Nika International | Honda Civic WTCC | 16 | 24.517 | 1:41.517 | 16 | |
| 14 | 25 | Y | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 16 | 33.791 | 1:41.775 | 13 |
| 15 | 26 | Y | Stefano D’ASTE | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 16 | 36.562 | 1:41.939 | 15 |
| 16 | 11 | Y | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | |
Craft-Bamboo Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 16 | 41.523 | 1:42.477 | 18 |
| 17 | 4 | Y | Tom CORONEL | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 15 | 1 Lp. | 1:42.417 | 14 |
| R | 27 | Y | John FILIPPI | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 8 | 8 Lp. | 1:42.208 | 17 |