Mehdi Bennani in his Proteam BMW 320 TC finished second in race two when the World Touring Car Championship ran at the Hungaroring near Budapest. Bennani was also the best BMW finisher in race one, where he finished fifth.
Bennani sprinted into the lead from the pole position at the beginning of the race, but he lost his margin when the safety car came out because of a lap one crash. When racing resumed on lap five, reigning WTCC champion Robert Huff, who has switched from Chevrolet to SEAT this season, got by Bennani and held on for the win despite the BMW racer’s best efforts. ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Coronel finished fifth, and his teammate Darryl O’Young finished tenth.
The lap one crash, which involved BMW’s Franz Engstler and Honda’s Gabriel Tarquini, sent both racers to the hospital for observation. Tarquini was kept for an overnight stay.
Yvan Muller won the first race over local hero Norbert Michelisz, who has switched from BMW to Honda this year, and Tarquini. Coronel hit Tiago Monteiro in the second turn on the first lap, setting off an incident that took out Monteiro’s Honda, Pepe Oriola’s SEAT, Fredy Barth’s BMW, and James Thompson’s Lada. O’Young, who was also involved in the incident, had to pit for repairs. He exited the race on lap five. The incident was investigated, but no penalties were issued. Coronel finished sixth behind Bennani.
WTCC runs again at the Salzburgring in Austria on May 19.—Brian S. Morgan
