Dutch racer Nick Catsburg completed a dominant run for the LADA Sport Rosneft outfit at this weekend’s Race of Russia for the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), as the home heroes secured their second 1-2 finish in a row at the 3.955-km circuit.
The Dutchman controlled the race from the very beginning, as the pole sitter would lead home another 1-2 finish for Viktor Shapovalov’s team ahead of Opening Race winner Gabriele Tarquini by just 1.011 seconds.
With track conditions starting to go from wet and greasy in the early goings towards mixed over the course of the race, it saw the trio of works Honda Civics come back into the fight, with Norbert Michelisz quickly making his way into third by the end of the very first lap.
The Hungarian ended up rounding out the podium, with Rob Huff and Tiago Monteiro rounding out a welcome 3-4-5 finish for the Japanese manufacturer, who recently lost their results from the Race of Marrakech a few weeks ago.
ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Coronel was the only driver to retire from the race, at the Dutchman’s car took a heavy impact that broke the Chevrolet’s right rear suspension on the first lap. Tom Chilton would also park his Citröen C-Elysée TC1 on the penultimate lap, after what was clearly a very difficult weekend for all works and privateer drivers.
Mannish Motorsport’s James Thompson would again take the win in the FIA WTCC Trophy category, having fought his way past LADA’s Hugo Valente for sixth with just two laps from the end.
Points leader Jose María López finished eighth, ahead of a charging Ferenc Ficza from ZENGO Motorsport, as the 19-year-old not only set the fastest lap of the race, but also battled his way past four-time champion Yvan Muller, who finished 11th.
Mehdi Bennani was the best of the Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroens, as the Moroccan took tenth place, which still keeps him second in the drivers standings, as well as the top independent this year.
Frederik Ekblom would be the best of the Volvos in 12th place behind Muller, whilst Björk would have to pit on lap five, having started the race from last, due to a parc fermé-related penalty.
The FIA WTCC moves to Vila Real in a fortnight’s time, as the Race of Portugal takes place between the 24th and 26th of June, with López looking to keep a firm hold on his sizeable lead towards taking a third successive WTCC title.
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 10 | Nicky CATSBURG |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 17 | 33:00.149 | 1:54.729 | 1 | |
| 2 | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 17 | 1.011 | 1:54.680 | 2 | |
| 3 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 17 | 13.681 | 1:55.357 | 5 | |
| 4 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 17 | 20.120 | 1:54.880 | 11 | |
| 5 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda Civic WTCC | 17 | 25.497 | 1:54.435 | 10 | |
| 6 | 15 | T | James THOMPSON | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 17 | 29.838 | 1:55.564 | 4 |
| 7 | 7 | Hugo VALENTE |  |
LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 17 | 30.611 | 1:55.980 | 3 | |
| 8 | 37 | José María LÓPEZ |  |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 17 | 36.168 | 1:55.140 | 6 | |
| 9 | 55 | T | Ferenc FICZA | |
Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 17 | 37.289 | 1:53.843 | 16 |
| 10 | 25 | T | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 17 | 42.772 | 1:56.459 | 9 |
| 11 | 68 | Yvan MULLER | |
Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 17 | 45.498 | 1:56.320 | 8 | |
| 12 | 61 | Fredrik EKBLOM |  |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 17 | 54.460 | 1:56.692 | 13 | |
| 13 | 11 | T | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 17 | 56.782 | 1:56.721 | 14 |
| 14 | 27 | T | John FILIPPI | |
Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 17 | 1:05.333 | 1:56.598 | 15 |
| 15 | 62 | Thed BJÖRK | |
Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo S60 WTCC | 17 | 1:19.323 | 1:54.658 | 17 | |
| 16 | 3 | T | Tom CHILTON | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 16 | 1 Lap | 1:56.632 | 12 |
| R | 9 | T | Tom CORONEL | |
ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 1 | 16 Laps | N/A | 7 |