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Gabriele Tarquini ends winless drought with triumph in Russia

The Opening Race of the FIA World Touring Car Championship at Russia’s Moscow Raceway saw Gabriele Tarquini scythe his way through the field from ninth on the grid to take his first win for LADA Sport Rosneft, with the Russian outfit finally taking their first victory on home soil.

The Italian would take his first WTCC win since Suzuka 2014, finishing 4.782 seconds Main Race pole sitter Nicky Catsburg home in a LADA, having closed a fast on Yvan Muller, overtaking the Frenchman for the lead into the last corner on lap eight.

Yvan Muller would be the best of the Citroëns holding onto the final podium position, with Hugo Valente bringing the last of the LADAs home in fourth.

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A heavy downpour on the initial formation lap saw chaos hit the starting grid, with Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Grégoire Demoustier and Polestar Cyan Racing’s Frederik Ekblom and Thed Björk, opting to pit for a fresh set of wet tyres. Shortly after, Race Control delayed the start for a further 15 minutes to allow all drivers to switch to wets for the race.

Whilst the LADAs were putting their dominance on proceedings, the works and privateer Citroëns of José María López, Tom Chilton and Mehdi Bennani would slip down the order, trying to make the best of the wet condition.

López would still keep his extensive points lead, as the Argentinian would battle hard to keep fifth place. But the Hondas of Tiago Monteiro, Rob Huff and Norbert Michelisz came alive as the track started to dry out in the latter stages.

Monteiro, who started from pole position, would finish 0.711 seconds behind López, with Huff just under a half second behind.

Michelisz, along with ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Coronel, would be handed drive-through penalties on lap 7, as the pair were deemed to have been outside of their correct position on the starting grid.

Münninch Motorsport’s James Thompson would barge his way past Bennani for eighth place just three laps from the end, with the Brit taking the FIA WTCC Trophy win in the Chevrolet Cruze.

Bennani and Michelisz would complete the top ten after another exciting race in the wet, with Campos Racing’s John Filippi and Coronel missing out on points finishes.

It was also another difficult time for Polestar Cyan Racing, as Björk would suffer technical problems in his S60, forcing the Swede to pit on lap 9 to retire. Ekblom would fare better than his teammate, with some progress being made towards finishing in 13th place, just 1.474 seconds behind Coronel.

Race result

POS NO CL DRIVER NAT ENTRANT CAR LAPS TIME/GAP BEST GD
1 2 Gabriele TARQUINI LADA Sport Rosneft LADA Vesta WTCC 15 29:39.384 1:57.366 9
2 10 Nicky CATSBURG LADA Sport Rosneft LADA Vesta WTCC 15 4.782 1:57.084 10
3 68 Yvan MULLER Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 15 16.062 1:58.739 3
4 7 Hugo VALENTE LADA Sport Rosneft LADA Vesta WTCC 15 23.683 1:58.497 8
5 37 José María LÓPEZ Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 15 28.092 1:59.252 5
6 18 Tiago MONTEIRO Honda Racing Team JAS Honda Civic WTCC 15 28.803 1:58.757 1
7 12 Rob HUFF Honda Racing Team JAS Honda Civic WTCC 15 29.266 1:58.651 11
8 15 T James THOMPSON ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 15 30.164 1:58.262 7
9 25 T Mehdi BENNANI Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 15 35.037 1:59.631 2
10 5 Norbert MICHELISZ Honda Racing Team JAS Honda Civic WTCC 15 43.985 1:57.834 6
11 27 T John FILIPPI Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 15 47.000 2:00.409 16
12 9 T Tom CORONEL ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 15 51.753 1:59.860 4
13 61 Fredrik EKBLOM Polestar Cyan Racing Volvo S60 WTCC 15 53.227 1:58.968 13
14 3 T Tom CHILTON Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 15 59.620 2:01.349 12
15 55 T Ferenc FICZA Zengő Motorsport Honda Civic WTCC 15 1:01.302 1:59.419 17
16 11 T Grégoire DEMOUSTIER Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 15 1:04.878 2:00.314 14
R 62 Thed BJÖRK Polestar Cyan Racing Volvo S60 WTCC 6 9 Laps 2:02.618 15

Complete race results

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