2011 FIA WTCC Race of the Czech Republic

The 2011 FIA WTCC Race of the Czech Republic (formally the 2011 FIA WTCC Monroe Race of the Czech Republic) was the fifth round of the 2011 World Touring Car Championship season and the sixth running of the FIA WTCC Race of the Czech Republic. It was held on 19 June 2011 at the Masaryk Circuit in Brno, Czech Republic.

2011 FIA WTCC Race of the Czech Republic
Race details
Round 5 of 12 in the 2011 World Touring Car Championship at Masaryk Circuit in Brno, Czech Republic.
Date19 June, 2011
LocationBrno, Czech Republic
CourseMasaryk Circuit
5.403 kilometres (3.357 mi)
Race One
Laps 10
Pole position
Driver Yvan Muller Chevrolet RML
Time 2:08.884
Podium
First Robert Huff Chevrolet RML
Second Yvan Muller Chevrolet RML
Third Alain Menu Chevrolet RML
Fastest Lap
Driver Robert Huff Chevrolet RML
Time 2:10.863
Race Two
Laps 10
Podium
First Yvan Muller Chevrolet RML
Second Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport
Third Alain Menu Chevrolet RML
Fastest Lap
Driver Yvan Muller Chevrolet RML
Time 2:11.640

Both races were won by Chevrolet RML with Robert Huff winning race one and Yvan Muller winning race two.

Background

After the previous round, Huff was leading the drivers' championship. Kristian Poulsen was tied on points at the top of the Yokohama Independents' Trophy with Javier Villa.

Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro became the next two SUNRED Engineering drivers to switch to the new 1.6T engine.[1] Polestar Racing also switched to their own turbo engine in the Volvo C30 driven by Robert Dahlgren.[2]

Report

Free practice

Muller led the opening free practice session with Huff and Alain Menu behind making it a Chevrolet 1–2–3. Norbert Michelisz in fourth was the fastest independent runner and Dahlgren was fifth with the new turbocharged Volvo. Michel Nykjær was the fastest SUNRED driver.[3]

Muller, Huff and Menu finished the second free practice session in the same order as Chevrolet continued to dominate practice. Dahlgren was fourth in the Volvo and Tom Coronel was fifth in the leading BMW. Tarquini was the quickest SUNRED car in sixth but teammate Monteiro didn't set a competitive lap time during the session having suffered from a misfiring engine.[4]

Qualifying

Muller took his first pole position of the season with him and team–mate Huff locking out the front row for Chevrolet. Dahlgren had been fastest in the first segment of qualifying with Huff second and Muller third. Franz Engstler ended the session tenth and would therefore take the reversed grid pole position for race two, lining up alongside Coronel. SUNRED drivers Tiago Monteiro and Fredy Barth suffered turbo problems in their cars and did not set any competitive times during the session.

In Q2, Muller set the fastest time and Huff was second. Coronel in third separated Menu in fourth from the other two Chevrolets. Michelisz, Dahlgren, Poulsen, Tarquini, Darryl O'Young and Engstler rounded out the top ten.[5]

Michelisz later excluded from qualifying when his Zengő-Dension Team car was found to be underweight. This promoted Nykjær to tenth in Q1 and therefore pole position in race two.[6]

Warm-Up

Muller was quickest in the warm–up session on Sunday morning, the pole sitter edging out Dahlgren's Volvo by less than a tenth of a second.[7]

Race One

Muller led the rolling start but Huff made an attempt to take the lead at the first corner. Huff failed to do so but his second attempt at turn seven saw him lead the race. Nykjær and Tarquini made contact at the first corner with Tarquini retiring due to the subsequent damage. Coronel in third was busy keeping Menu behind until three laps from the end when the Chevrolet driver outbraked Coronel for third place with three laps to go. At the end of the race, championship leader Huff led a Chevrolet 1–2–3 with Coronel ending up fourth ahead of independent winner Poulsen. Dahlgren was sixth and O'Young came out on top in the battle for seventh place ahead of Michelisz who came from the back to eighth. Villa and Nykjær completed the top ten while Monteiro continued to struggle and ended up twelfth.[8]

Race Two

Nykjær started on pole position for race two but was quickly passed by the fast starting Coronel who led into the first corner. Muller had made a good start from eighth and took second place from Nykjær at turn eight. Two laps later, Muller had closed in on Coronel and passed the ROAL Motorsport driver. Coronel then made contact with Menu defending second place while Huff was behind the pair in fourth place. Further back, Tarquini and Poulsen battled over position further down the field which ended with Poulsen going through the gravel trap at turn five. Tarquini fell down to sixth and Poulsen recovered to eighth at the end. At the end of the race, Muller claimed the win with Coronel second and Menu third. Race one winner Huff was fourth ahead of race two pole sitter and Yokohama Trophy winner Nykjær. Tarquini, Villa, Poulsen, Dahlgren and Mehdi Bennani completed the top ten.[9]

Results

Qualifying
Pos. No. Name Team Car C Q1 Q2
1 1 Yvan Muller Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 2:10.384 2:08.884
2 2 Robert Huff Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 2:10.375 2:09.256
3 15 Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 2:10.831 2:09.717
4 8 Alain Menu Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 2:10.466 2:09.830
5 30 Robert Dahlgren Polestar Racing Volvo C30 Drive 2:10.264 2:09.998
6 11 Kristian Poulsen Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 2:10.459 2:10.326
7 3 Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil-SUNRED SUNRED SR León 1.6T 2:10.729 2:10.491
8 9 Darryl O'Young bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 2:10.506 2:10.559
9 12 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 2:10.839 2:11.339
10 17 Michel Nykjær SUNRED Engineering SUNRED SR León 1.6T Y 2:10.959 no time set
11 20 Javier Villa Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 2:11.285
12 25 Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 2:11.410
13 74 Pepe Oriola SUNRED Engineering SUNRED SR León 1.6T Y 2:11.687
14 10 Yukinori Taniguchi bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 2:11.832
15 4 Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil-SUNRED SEAT León 2.0 TDI Y 2:11.899
16 35 Urs Sonderegger Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TC Y 2:17.051
EX1 5 Norbert Michelisz Zengő-Dension Team BMW 320 TC Y Excluded Excluded
107% time: 2:19.382
– 18 Tiago Monteiro SUNRED Engineering SUNRED SR León 1.6T 2:19.531
– 7 Fredy Barth SEAT Swiss Racing by SUNRED SUNRED SR León 1.6T Y 13:26.922
  • Bold denotes Pole position for second race.
^1 — Michelisz was excluded from qualifying after his car was found to be underweight after the session.[6]

Race 1
Pos. No. Name Team Car C Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 2 Robert Huff Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 10 21:59.507 2 25
2 1 Yvan Muller Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 10 +0.858 1 18
3 8 Alain Menu Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 10 +11.697 4 15
4 15 Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 10 +13.026 3 12
5 11 Kristian Poulsen Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 10 +13.772 6 10
6 30 Robert Dahlgren Polestar Racing Volvo C30 Drive 10 +14.353 5 8
7 9 Darryl O'Young bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 10 +21.288 8 6
8 5 Norbert Michelisz Zengő-Dension Team BMW 320 TC Y 10 +21.584 19 4
9 20 Javier Villa Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 10 +23.436 11 2
10 17 Michel Nykjær SUNRED Engineering SUNRED SR León 1.6T Y 10 +23.731 10 1
11 25 Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 10 +24.146 12
12 18 Tiago Monteiro SUNRED Engineering SUNRED SR León 1.6T 10 +27.624 17
13 74 Pepe Oriola SUNRED Engineering SUNRED SR León 1.6T Y 10 +29.796 13
14 4 Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil-SUNRED SEAT León 2.0 TDI Y 10 +34.209 15
15 10 Yukinori Taniguchi bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 10 +34.828 14
16 12 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 10 +39.038 9
17 35 Urs Sonderegger Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TC Y 10 +1:08.893 16
NC 3 Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil-SUNRED SUNRED SR León 1.6T 6 +4 Laps 7
Ret 7 Fredy Barth SEAT Swiss Racing by SUNRED SUNRED SR León 1.6T Y 3 Engine 18
  • Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Race 2
Pos. No. Name Team Car C Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Yvan Muller Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 10 22:08.247 8 25
2 15 Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 10 +4.183 3 18
3 8 Alain Menu Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 10 +4.415 6 15
4 2 Robert Huff Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 10 +5.033 9 12
5 17 Michel Nykjær SUNRED Engineering SUNRED SR León 1.6T Y 10 +8.450 1 10
6 3 Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil-SUNRED SUNRED SR León 1.6T 10 +9.118 4 8
7 20 Javier Villa Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 10 +9.381 11 6
8 11 Kristian Poulsen Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 10 +11.383 7 4
9 30 Robert Dahlgren Polestar Racing Volvo C30 Drive 10 +11.627 10 2
10 25 Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 10 +11.988 12 1
11 74 Pepe Oriola SUNRED Engineering SUNRED SR León 1.6T Y 10 +19.966 13
12 18 Tiago Monteiro SUNRED Engineering SUNRED SR León 1.6T 10 +21.209 17
13 4 Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil-SUNRED SEAT León 2.0 TDI Y 10 +22.252 15
14 10 Yukinori Taniguchi bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 10 +24.809 14
15 5 Norbert Michelisz Zengő-Dension Team BMW 320 TC Y 10 +42.517 18
16 7 Fredy Barth SEAT Swiss Racing by SUNRED SUNRED SR León 1.6T Y 7 +3 Laps 19
Ret 9 Darryl O'Young bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 5 Race incident 5
Ret 12 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 1 Turbo wastegate 2
Ret 35 Urs Sonderegger Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TC Y 0 Race incident 16
  • Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Standings after the event
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of drivers' standings.

References
  1. Hudson, Neil (10 June 2011). "Tarquini and Monteiro to switch to the 1.6 turbo in Brno". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  2. Abbott, Andrew (17 June 2011). "Volvo set to debut turbo engine". Touring-Cars.net. Andrew Abbott. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  3. Hudson, Neil (18 June 2011). "Muller leads first free practice at Brno". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Archived from the original on 12 April 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  4. Hudson, Neil (18 June 2011). "Yvan Muller on top again in Free Practice 2". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Archived from the original on 12 April 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  5. Allen, Peter (18 June 2011). "Muller Quickest In Qualifying At Brno". The Checkered Flag. BlackEagleMedia Network. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  6. Hudson, Neil (19 June 2011). "Michelisz excluded from qualifying, sent to the back". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Archived from the original on 2011-08-25. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  7. Hudson, Neil (19 June 2011). "Yvan Muller quickest in warm-up". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Archived from the original on 12 April 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  8. Gent, James (19 June 2011). "Huff stretches lead with Brno win". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  9. Gent, James (19 June 2011). "Muller wins race two at Brno". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
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