» WTCR: Muller wins in thrilling four-car duel

Yvan Muller claimed his first win of the new FIA World Touring Car Cup, coming out on top in an enthralling four-way scrap for victory in the opening race at the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

After he was beaten to pole position by teammate Thed Björk to the tune of just 0.079 seconds in Thursday’s earlier qualifying session, Muller was in no mood to follow in the Swede’s wheeltracks.

As sunset approached and the starting lights went out, Muller ran side-by-side with Björk on the downhill run to Turn 1 and squeezed his way ahead through the chicane. Norbert Michelisz slotted his BRC Racing Team Hyundai into third place ahead of Rob Huff in the Sébastien Loeb Racing VW Golf.

2018 FIA WTCR Race of Germany - Race 1 start

Muller’s faster getaway proved decisive in allowing him to get ahead of teammate Björk at the start of the race.

Trouble struck just behind in the upper midfield as the two Boutsen Ginion Racing Hondas of Tom Coronel and Benjamin Lessennes made light contact at Turn 1, which forced the latter wide. As Lessennes rejoined the circuit, he collected the Münnich Motorsport Honda of Yann Ehrlacher and tipped the young Frenchman into a half-spin. Ehrlacher’s teammate Esteban Guerrieri also came to grief through this complex after he too was tipped into a spin by Gabriele Tarquini.

Huff managed to force his way past Michelisz into third as the field exited the Grand Prix circuit and there began his desperate pursuit of the two YMR Hyundais.

Behind the top four, Jean-Karl Vernay led the Audi charge in fifth. Tarquini found himself sandwiched between the RS 3 LMS models, with youngster Frédéric Vervisch giving the championship leader’s rear bumper plenty of attention. The young Belgian ran side-by-side with the veteran on the long Döttinger Hohe straight, with Tarquini making a rare and costly error by crashing out at the chicane.

Vervisch’s own race would last barely another half-lap before he too was out with smoke emanating from the front of his Comtoyou Racing Audi.

The main focus of the race was a thrilling four-way battle for the lead between Muller, Björk, Huff and Michelisz. Huff – who later described the race as the “most exciting” of his career – looked to have a pure pace advantage over the three heavier Hyundais through the Nordschleife’s twists and turns, but Muller and Björk somehow seemed to have just enough in hand along the long blast down Döttinger Hohe to keep the Briton at bay.

Yvan Muller leads Thed Bjork, YMR Hyundai i30 N TCR - 2018 FIA WTCR Race of Germany

Muller used all of his experience to stay on top in a thrilling four-way battle for victory in Race 1.

The final lap saw Björk hone in on the back of Muller and draw alongside his teammate along Döttinger Hohe, while Huff simultaneously tried to attack the pair and keep Michelisz at bay.

Muller held firm in the end, crossing the finish line just 0.3 seconds clear of Björk. The top four were covered by just 1.2 seconds.

Vernay finished a fine fifth ahead of teammates René Rast and Gordon Shedden, who both made up impressive ground after each was handed a 10-place grid drop after qualifying in the top-ten. Pepe Oriola finished eighth in his Campos Racing Cupra, overtaking the Boutsen Ginion Hondas of Coronel and Lessennes on the final lap.

Qualifying for Saturday’s two races takes place on Friday evening at 17:35 CEST (GMT +2).

2018 FIA World Touring Car Cup Race of Germany – Race 1 Final Classification (3 laps)
	Driver	Team	Laps	Result	Pts
1.	Yvan Muller	MRacing – YMR	3	27:08.139	25
2.	Thed Björk	MRacing – YMR	3	+ 0.331	18
3.	Rob Huff	Sébastien Loeb Racing	3	+ 0.853	15
4.	Norbert Michelisz	BRC Racing Team	3	+ 1.288	12
5.	Jean-Karl Vernay	Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team	3	+ 8.112	10
6.	René Rast	Audi Sport Team WRT	3	+ 8.581	8
7.	Gordon Shedden	Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team	3	+ 13.468	6
8.	Pepe Oriola	Team OSCARO by Campos Racing	3	+ 18.134	4
9.	Tom Coronel	Boutsen Ginion Racing	3	+ 18.573	2
10.	Benjamin Lessennes	Boutsen Ginion Racing	3	+ 18.672	1
11.	Aurélien Panis	Comtoyou Racing	3	+ 19.343
12.	Denis Dupont	Comtoyou Racing	3	+ 25.367
13.	Mehdi Bennani	Sébastien Loeb Racing	3	+ 25.816
14.	Mat’o Homola	DG Sport Compétition	3	+ 26.205
15.	Fabrizio Giovanardi	Mulsanne SRL	3	+ 31.087
16.	John Filippi	Team OSCARO by Campos Racing	3	+ 31.916
17.	Kris Richard	KCMG	3	+ 32.728
18.	Aurélien Comte	DG Sport Compétition	3	+ 33.750
19.	Yann Ehrlacher	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	3	+ 34.286
20.	Nathanaël Berthon	Comtoyou Racing	3	+ 35.420
21.	Norbert Nagy	Zengõ Motorsport	3	+ 51.677
22.	James Thompson	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	3	+ 52.428
	Not Classified	Team	Laps	Result
DNF.	Gianni Morbidelli	Mulsanne SRL	2	Mechanical
DNF.	Frédéric Vervisch	Audi Sport Team Comtoyou	1	Engine
DNF.	Esteban Guerrieri	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	1	Collision
DNF.	Gabriele Tarquini	BRC Racing Team	0	Accident
DNS.	Zsolt Dávid Szabó	Zengõ Motorsport