Sport   Other Sports   Touring Cars

Rob Huff makes Macau his own after record 7th win at the circuit

By MJP Media | 19 November 2014

Britain's Rob Huff took a record 7th win on the streets of Macau, wrestling his LADA Granta Sport to the top step of the podium in dramatic scenes during the final round of the 2014 FIA World Touring Car Championship.

Rob Huff on the podium at Macau for his 7th win at the circuit

The former World Touring Car Champion held position in eighth as the field streaked away from the start in race 1 and remained a threat to ROAL Motorsport's Tom Coronel during the opening laps of the narrow Far Eastern street circuit. Huff was forced to go defensive as Ma Qing Hua mounted a challenge, but ultimately had no answer to the Chinese racer, with a notable straight-line speed deficiency in the ultra-high speed first sector leaving him vulnerable.

Falling to ninth on lap three, Huff continued to pressurise Ma while embroiled in a tussle with Proteam Racing's Mehdi Bennani and was happy to emerge from the first ten-lap race with points and completely unscathed, aware that he had a realistic shot at another podium finish from third on the grid for race 2.

Rob Huff on the streets of Macau in his LADA Granta Sport

Huff was baulked behind the slow-starting Chevrolets of Tom Chilton and Hugo Valente off the line, however the Iconic Bet-backed racer emerged from Lisboa corner in second, underneath the rear wing of Tiago Monteiro's Honda Civic, concerned with defending against the third-placed Citroen of Yvan Muller.

The Newmarket-based driver exploited the grip from his fresh Yokohama tyres and his sprightly LADA Granta Sport's agility through the narrow second and third sectors to see off the Frenchman and despite a late Safely Car intervention, continued a valiant defensive drive during a tense two-lap sprint to the chequered flag.

Rob is delighted with his 7th win at the Macau street circuit

Huff took the initiative from an ailing Monteiro on the penultimate lap and stood firm against a hard-charging Muller, setting a new lap record on his way to achieving an unprecedented 7th outright victory on the streets of Macau and give a jubilant LADA Sport team its second ever WTCC race win.

"To tell the truth, I came to Macau with a great desire to win and it's fantastic to achieve my seventh victory in Macau with LADA Sport," said Huff. "I am so proud of the entire team - all engineers and mechanics. It has been such a tough season for us and there's no better reward than to stand atop the podium at the final race. My LADA Granta Sport was just flying - I set the fastest lap here in Macau - and achieved the team's second win and its third podium of the year. We achieved brilliant results in 2014 and believe me, there will be even more wins next season with the new LADA Vesta!"

Touring Car content supplied by MJP Media