» WTCC: Huff wins as team-mates collide at Shanghai

Robert Huff will head into the World Touring Car Championship finale armed with a comfortable 23-point championship lead, courtesy of winning this afternoon’s closing race at Shanghai – a result helped by his team-mate and championship rival Yvan Muller copping a penalty for colliding with race leader Alain Menu.

The race started with Tom Coronel and Stefano D’Aste assuming a 1-2 run in their BMWs, while Menu had a great getaway from tenth to be running in third place by the end of the opening lap!

By the end of the second lap of the race, the Chevrolets were sitting in second, third and fourth as the RML squad set about taking its now-customary formation at the front of the field – Menu was leading ahead of Muller and Huff, who had a poor start.

Coronel would surrender his lead to Menu and Muller on the fourth lap, while Huff got by the Dutchman’s BMW on the following lap to make it a Chevrolet 1-2-3 once again.

Having failed to claim any points against his main rivals Menu and Huff in Race 1, Muller was desperate to make up for lost ground and keep his championship hopes alive.

On Lap 8, he went for it, trying a hopelessly late lunge on Menu as they approached Turn 1. It was a move that only succeeded in him punting his team-mate into the run-off, which allowed a delighted Huff into the lead and his fifth win of the 2012 season.

The move had shuffled Menu down to third behind Muller, but the Frenchman elected to cede the place to try and avoid any action from the FIA Stewards.

However, Menu’s tyres were badly flat-spotted as a result of the contact, and he was unable to keep Muller at bay on the next lap when the Frenchman tried a cleaner passing move at Turn 2.

The Chevrolets crossed the line in that order to complete a subdued podium – Huff excepted, of course – with Menu refusing to speak with Muller, and leaving his trophy on the podium in disgust.

Not surprisingly, Muller was hit with a post-race time penalty by the FIA Stewards, demoting him out of the points and promoting Menu into a consolation second, while Coronel was moved up into third place.

2012 FIA WTCC Race of China – Race 2 Final Classification (13 laps):

	Driver	Team	Result	YIT
1.	Robert Huff	RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	25:17.714
2.	Alain Menu	RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	+ 2.698
3.	Tom Coronel	ROAL Motorsport BMW 320TC	+ 4.378
4.	Stefano D’Aste	Wiechers-Sport BMW 320TC	+ 4.866	Y
5.	Mehdi Bennani	Proteam Racing BMW 320TC	+ 5.574	Y
6.	Gabriele Tarquini	Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCC	+ 20.406
7.	Colin Turkington	WSR Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	+ 25.189
8.	Tom Boardman	Special Tune Racing SEAT León WTCC	+ 26.741	Y
9.	Alberto Cerqui	ROAL Motorsport BMW 320TC	+ 27.167	Y
10.	Tiago Monteiro	JAS Honda Civic S2000 TC	+ 27.342
11.	Aleksei Dudukalo	Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCC	+ 28.113	Y
12.	Darryl O’Young	Bamboo Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	+ 30.937	Y
13.	Yvan Muller*	RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	+ 31.195
14.	Fredy Barth	Swiss Racing SEAT León WTCC	+ 32.626	Y
15.	Franz Engstler	Liqui Moly Engstler BMW 320TC	+ 35.170	Y
16.	Fernando Monje	SUNRED Engineering SEAT León WTCC	+ 35.249	Y
17.	Alex MacDowell	Bamboo Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	+ 35.368	Y
18.	Hugo Valente	Tuenti Racing SR León 1.6T	+ 41.675	Y
19.	Tom Chilton	Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC	+ 42.220
20.	Eric Kwong	Look Fong Racing Chevrolet Cruze LT	+ 1:15.910	Y
21.	Filipe de Souza	China Dragon Chevrolet Lacetti	+ 1:21.126	Y
22.	Kin Veng Ng	China Dragon Chevrolet Lacetti	+ 1:34.329	Y
23.	Charles Ka-Ki Ng	Liqui Moly Engstler BMW 320TC	+ 1 lap	Y
24.	Norbert Michelisz	Zengõ Motorsport BMW 320TC	+ 1 lap	Y
25.	Alex Liu Lic Ka	Liqui Moly Engstler BMW 320si	+ 2 laps	Y
	Not Classified
NF.	Kelvin Leong	Song Veng Honda Accord Euro R	7 laps	Y
NF.	Pepe Oriola	Tuenti Racing Team SEAT León WTCC	6 laps	Y
NF.	James Nash	Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC	0 laps