Honda’s Rob Huff experienced a ‘bittersweet’ weekend in the World Touring Car Championship in Slovakia, after a podium in the opening race was followed up with a retirement in the main race.
Having made it into Q3, Huff qualified in fifth for the main race, which translated to sixth for the reverse-grid opening race.
A strong start in race one immediately elevated Huff to third by the opening corner, which is where the Brit would remain for the duration of the race.
Whilst team-mate Tiago Monteiro was able to find a way past the independent Citroën of Mehdi Bennani for the win, Huff simply couldn’t get past and had to settle for a second podium of the season.
Race two was less fortunate for Huff, who retired with two laps to run whilst running in fourth, as a direct result of contact with Citroën’s Yvan Muller a handful of laps earlier.
“Race day began with a terrific start in the opening race and a very strong podium finish,” explained Huff. “We knew there was still a bit of speed left to find in the Civic WTCC overnight and the team found it, so that result was for them.
“We had a great start in race one which put me straight into P3, and then watched a great fight between Tiago and Mehdi. Unfortunately it just didn’t have the legs in the last two laps to be able to get Mehdi. He didn’t make any mistakes at all and I have to say he’s driving very, very well this year and fully deserves the wins that he’s getting.
“Unfortunately, there was a bit of contact between myself and Yvan Muller while we were battling for position in the main race, which damaged my front-left tyre and led to it failing and putting me out a few laps later.
“It’s a shame to lose points that way, but I’m still in a strong fourth place in the championship and Honda leads the manufacturers’ standings, so overall the feeling is a positive one as we head to Hungary next weekend.
“[It was] a little bit of a bittersweet weekend. Congratulations to everyone on the podium – a fantastic weekend by Tiago and a strong run from Honda. We’re racking the points up and that’s what we need to do, but with 80 kilos difference at the moment, it’s all to play for effectively.
“Of course we’re going to go into the next race with some weight which is going to hurt, but I’m hoping we can deal with it pretty well.”
Huff is fourth overall in the drivers’ championship after Slovakia on 49 points, 28 points adrift of leader Monteiro.