Gilles Magnus holds off Rob Huff for race one win in Aragón

Comtoyou Racing’s Gilles Magnus withstood race-long pressure from Zengő Motorsport’s Rob Huff to claim victory in the opening FIA World Touring Car Cup race at MotorLand Aragón in Spain.

Although it was a lights-to-flag victory for the Audi driver, he twice had to withstand pressure and attacks from his rivals.

At the start, Magnus held the lead but came under pressure through the opening turns by Cyan Racing’s Yann Ehrlacher, who had tired to go around the outside at the second corner.

But as Ehrlacher found himself out of position, it was the fast-starting CUPRA of Huff who took advantage, the Brit coming from fourth on the grid to second in the first two turns.

Ehrlacher then battled with the second Comtoyou Audi of Nathanaël Berthon over the opening lap, with the reigning champion holding third early on.

Berthon re-took the final podium place on the next lap, in a move which saw Ehrlacher drop to sixth behind team-mate Yvan Muller and Hyundai’s Mikel Azcona.

Meanwhile, at the front, Magnus held a lead of half a second over Huff, who was generally always within that distance from the Belgian.

Huff kept Magnus honest, but lacked the ultimate pace to be able to mount a serious move for the win and he had to settle for second, the Brit’s second successive second in the championship, as Magnus claimed his second overall WTCR win and his first visit to the podium this year.

Azcona had jumped two places up to sixth on the opening lap, becoming fifth when Ehrlacher dropped back, and he then quickly got by Muller for fourth on lap four.

Thereafter, the Spaniard caught and pressured Berthon for the final podium place, but like Huff’s predicament, he couldn’t find a way through as the Audi ahead held firm with strong straight-line speed.

For Berthon it is the Frenchman’s second podium of 2022, whilst Azcona managed to extend his drivers’ standings lead with fourth.

Norbert Michelisz came fifth, the Hyundai driver gaining two places up to seventh on the first lap before passing Ehrlacher for sixth two laps later.

Like Azcona, Michelisz dispatched Muller with a late-braking move into the final hairpin on lap five, before following his team-mate home.

Ehrlacher took sixth, having been handed the position on lap ten when Muller moved aside after a team communication, which also made clear that Santiago Urrutia, running in eighth, would not be allowed by.

That meant Muller claimed seventh, ahead of his Uruguayan team-mate, who had earlier rubbed wheels with Ehrlacher.

Thed Björk made it four Lynk & Cos inside the top ten with ninth, with Comtoyou Racing’s Mehdi Bennani in tenth.

The miserable weekend for Honda continued, as Esteban Guerrieri was only 11^th for Münnich Motorsport, ahead of team-mate Néstor Girolami in 12^th.

Attila Tassi had retired after 13 laps, with other non-finishers being Tom Coronel, who had picked up damage from Ma Qing Hua, and Dániel Nagy, who had a front-left puncture whilst running just outside the top ten.

Race two is scheduled to get underway at 15:15 CEST (14:15 BST).

Race one result

POS	NO	CL	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	BEST	GD
1	16			Gilles MAGNUS	Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021	16	34:09.551	2:06.320	1
2	79			Rob HUFF	Zengő Motorsport Services Kft	CUPRA Leon Competición TCR	16	0.393	2:06.757	4
3	17			Nathanaël BERTHON	Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021	16	4.351	2:06.884	2
4	96			Mikel AZCONA	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	16	4.869	2:06.991	8
5	5			Norbert MICHELISZ	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	16	5.548	2:07.125	9
6	68			Yann EHRLACHER	Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	16	9.655	2:07.503	3
7	100			Yvan MULLER	Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	16	16.558	2:07.125	5
8	12			Santiago URRUTIA	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	16	18.960	2:07.490	6
9	11			Thed BJÖRK	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	16	19.990	2:07.574	12
10	25			Mehdi BENNANI	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021	16	20.571	2:07.852	15
11	86			Esteban GUERRIERI	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR	16	25.957	2:08.011	11
12	29			Néstor GIROLAMI	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR	16	27.688	2:08.569	13
13	55			MA Qing Hua	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	16	28.977	2:07.951	10
14	18			Tiago MONTEIRO	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR	16	36.987	2:08.444	16
R	9			Attila TASSI	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR	13	DNF	2:08.074	14
R	33			Tom CORONEL	Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021	7	DNF	2:08.384	17
R	99			Dániel NAGY	Zengő Motorsport Services Kft	CUPRA Leon Competición TCR	6	DNF	2:07.765	7