Yvan Muller insists that he is not thinking about the championship, despite taking a double win and triple podium in China, which has elevated the Lynk & Co driver up to third overall in the championship.
Muller was the man to beat the Ningbo International Speedpark in China, with the Cyan Racing driver flying to pole position and victory in race one on Saturday.
The 50-year-old then repeated the feat on Sunday when he put his Lynk & Co 03 on pole again in qualifying, before controlling race three and taking a second lights-to-flag victory.
In between, Muller also managed to finish third in the reverse-grid second race, sharing the podium with long-time rival Gabriele Tarquini, to come only nine points short of a perfect-scoring weekend, scoring 76 points, with a maximum possible score of 85 points available.
“I was already very satisfied with the pole and the victory [on Saturday],” said Muller. “That was already enough to give me enough pleasure.
“This morning we were able to confirm the pole position, that was another satisfaction. Then in race two, I was pleased to be P7 and my friends helped me to reach the podium, so that was another satisfaction!
“Then best was race three with victory and with Yann [Ehrlacher] and Gabriele [in race two] it’s probably the oldest podium of the year. A fantastic weekend, of course.”
Despite jumping from sixth in the drivers’ championship standings, 77 points adrift, to third, just 17 points away from the top, Muller insists its too early to think about a title challenge.
The four-time WTCC champion’s weekend was in stark contrast to erstwhile points leader Esteban Guerrieri, who took home not a single point from the event – something Muller says could easily happen to another driver in the remaining three events.
“We are still far away and there are a lot of points [to be won]. As this weekend shows, even if you are 80 points [down] it is not far away enough, and we saw that last year.
“There’s no point to think of the championship. Before this weekend I was here to help Thed [Björk]. Now the situation will change probably and let’s see if it stays like that to the end. Anything can happen.”