2011 FIA WTCC Race of UK

The 2011 FIA WTCC Race of UK was the seventh round of the 2011 World Touring Car Championship season and the seventh running of the FIA WTCC Race of UK. It was held on 17 July 2011 at the Donington Park circuit in Leicestershire, England.

2011 FIA WTCC Race of UK
Race details
Date17 July, 2011
LocationLeicestershire, England
CourseDonington Park
4.003 kilometres (2.487 mi)
Race One
Laps 13
Pole position
Driver Yvan Muller Chevrolet RML
Time 1:38.470
Podium
First Yvan Muller Chevrolet RML
Second Robert Huff Chevrolet RML
Third Alain Menu Chevrolet RML
Fastest Lap
Driver Robert Huff Chevrolet RML
Time 1:37.380
Race Two
Laps 13
Podium
First Yvan Muller Chevrolet RML
Second Robert Huff Chevrolet RML
Third Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler
Fastest Lap
Driver Yvan Muller Chevrolet RML
Time 1:37.993

Both races were won by Chevrolet RML driver Yvan Muller. Franz Engstler finished on the podium in the WTCC for the first time in race two when he finished third.

Background

Coming to the Race of UK, local driver Robert Huff was leading the drivers' championship ahead of Muller. Norbert Michelisz was leading the Yokohama Independents' Trophy.

Aleksei Dudukalo became the final SEAT driver to switch to the new 1.6 turbo engine in his Lukoil-SUNRED car. Fabio Fabiani returned to Proteam Racing in the naturally aspirated BMW 320si having last raced at the Race of Hungary.[1] Regular Scandinavian Touring Car Championship driver Colin Turkington joined Wiechers-Sport in place of Stefano D'Aste who was not available for the British round.[2]

Proteam Racing driver Javier Villa would drop five places on the grid for race one after causing a collision with Fredy Barth at the Race of Portugal.[3]

Report

Testing and free practice

Muller topped the Friday test session with Robert Dahlgren's Volvo second and Alain Menu third in his Chevrolet. Villa was the best independent driver in seventh and Turkington was ninth on his return to the WTCC. SUNRED Engineering's Tiago Monteiro did not complete any laps due to engine problems.[4]

The first free practice session on Saturday morning took place in heavy rain. Huff stood at the top of the times early on before conditions improved and times tumbled, Muller displaced him during the middle of the session before Huff set the fastest time later on. Several drivers spun on the wet track, notably Turkington who went through the gravel at Redgate.[5]

The track continued to dry out as free practice two took place in the afternoon, Huff was quickest once again with Gabriele Tarquini second and Muller third. Turkington only emerged from his garage towards the end of the session before setting the nineteenth best time while Fabiani was unable to take part due to differential problems. Yokohama Trophy leader Michelisz ended his session in the Craner Curves gravel trap.[6]

Qualifying

There had been a brief rain shower prior to the start of qualifying so Q1 took place on a drying track. Muller set the fastest time at the end of the session with Huff second and Menu third. ROAL Motorsport's Tom Coronel ended the session tenth to take pole position for race two with Michel Nykjær joining him on the front row after ending the first session ninth. 2009 champion Tarquini failed to get through to Q2 and lined up eleventh for both races while Michelisz and Dahlgren would start near the back of the field after setting poor times.

The top ten cars went through to Q2 where Muller led another Chevrolet 1–2–3 at the end of the session. Monteiro qualified fourth ahead of Turkington in fifth who was the top Yokohama Trophy driver. Darryl O'Young for bamboo-engineering, Engstler, Coronel, Villa and Nykjær rounded out the top ten.[7]

Warm-Up

Dahlgren was quickest in Sunday morning's warm–up session ahead of Tarquini, Turkington and pole sitter Muller.[8]

Race One

The three Chevrolets led away from the rolling start with Muller first and Huff second with Menu close behind looking to take second place at Redgate. Tarquini and Turkington made contact at the Craner Curves, Tarquini nudged the BMW and Turkington dropped from fifth to tenth after going onto the grass. Tarquini then climbed up to fourth by the end of the first lap while Monteiro retired with suspension failure. Tarquini dropped to fifth after three laps when he was passed by Coronel. Nykjær in seventh was proving to be hard to pass and was holding up Kristian Poulsen, Turkington had moved back up to ninth but was unable to pass either of the two cars in front. Dahlgren and Michelisz had been on the move up through the field from the back of the grid but their progress was halted when they caught up with the train of cars. Poulsen tried to make a move on Poulsen's BMW but instead rode up over the back of the it while Michelisz spun and retired with broken steering. Turkington then locked up at McLeans on lap seven and shot across the grass to rejoin in sixteenth place. Back at the front, Huff was closing in on Muller but was unable to get close enough to make a move for the lead. Muller led a Chevrolet 1–2–3 with Coronel fourth and Tarquini fifth. Engstler came home sixth to take the independents' victory ahead of team–mate Poulsen. Turkington had climbed back up to ninth place before the end of the race having forced Fredy Barth and Mehdi Bennani off the road to do so, O'Young completed the top ten. Fabiani was disqualified after his mechanics worked on the car during the parc fermé period.[9]

Race Two

Coronel led away from the standing start and retained his lead until the second lap when a mistake dropped him to sixth and allowed Villa to get through and assume the lead. Nykjær went out on the opening lap when he went into the gravel at Coppice. Further down the field, Huff was defending sixth place from Muller but was tapped at the hairpin. Tarquini was spun by Tarquini and dropped in the order to sixteenth for the second race in a row. While Huff regained control of his Chevrolet Cruze, Muller went through to take his position. Engstler then took the lead while Menu clashed with Villa on the third lap and he dropped in the order. Engstler held first place until lap five when he was passed by Muller and then eventually Huff. Poulsen and Michelisz came together on lap eight with the resulting damage forcing the Liqui Moly Team Engstler driver to retire, Michelisz continued but was down the order in twelfth. O'Young and Bennani benefitted from the incident and moved up. Poulsen would later incur a five place grid penalty for the Race of Germany. Muller claimed the win ahead of Huff and Engstler who scored his first podium result and was also the independent victor again. Coronel was fourth ahead of Menu, Dahlgren came from the back of the grid to sixth ahead of Tarquini. O'Young, Bennani and recovering Turkington completed the top ten. Fabiani was excluded for not using the official WTCC fuel.[10]

Results

Qualifying

Pos. No. Name Team Car C Q1 Q2
1 1 Yvan Muller Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 1:40.422 1:38.470
2 2 Robert Huff Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 1:40.526 1:38.551
3 8 Alain Menu Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 1:40.838 1:38.794
4 18 Tiago Monteiro SUNRED Engineering SUNRED SR León 1.6T 1:41.214 1:39.167
5 29 Colin Turkington Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TC Y 1:40.965 1:39.332
6 9 Darryl O'Young bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 1:40.895 1:39.471
7 12 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 1:40.995 1:39.686
8 15 Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 1:41.431 1:39.966
9 20 Javier Villa Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 1:41.221 1:40.047
10 17 Michel Nykjær SUNRED Engineering SUNRED SR León 1.6T Y 1:41.392 1:40.152
11 3 Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil-SUNRED SUNRED SR León 1.6T 1:41.450
12 11 Kristian Poulsen Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 1:41.530
13 7 Fredy Barth SEAT Swiss Racing by SUNRED SUNRED SR León 1.6T Y 1:41.557
14 74 Pepe Oriola SUNRED Engineering SUNRED SR León 1.6T Y 1:41.590
15 25 Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 1:42.179
16 10 Yukinori Taniguchi bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 1:42.576
17 4 Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil-SUNRED SUNRED SR León 1.6T Y 1:42.871
18 5 Norbert Michelisz Zengő-Dension Team BMW 320 TC Y 1:45.720
107% time: 1:47.451
30 Robert Dahlgren Polestar Racing Volvo C30 Drive 1:48.569
21 Fabio Fabiani Proteam Racing BMW 320si Y 1:55.478
  • Bold denotes Pole position for second race.

Race 1

Pos. No. Name Team Car C Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Yvan Muller Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 13 21:21.521 1 25
2 2 Robert Huff Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 13 +1.136 2 18
3 8 Alain Menu Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 13 +3.903 3 15
4 15 Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 13 +8.708 8 12
5 3 Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil-SUNRED SUNRED SR León 1.6T 13 +9.299 10 10
6 12 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 13 +14.186 7 8
7 17 Michel Nykjær SUNRED Engineering SUNRED SR León 1.6T Y 13 +18.974 9 6
8 30 Robert Dahlgren Polestar Racing Volvo C30 Drive 13 +19.191 19 4
9 11 Kristian Poulsen Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 13 +20.536 11 2
10 29 Colin Turkington Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TC Y 13 +28.804 5 1
11 9 Darryl O'Young bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 13 +29.831 6
12 74 Pepe Oriola SUNRED Engineering SUNRED SR León 1.6T Y 13 +29.966 13
13 7 Fredy Barth SEAT Swiss Racing by SUNRED SUNRED SR León 1.6T Y 13 +34.093 12
14 25 Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 13 +34.526 15
15 4 Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil-SUNRED SUNRED SR León 1.6T Y 13 +39.419 17
16 10 Yukinori Taniguchi bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 13 +1:07.938 16
17 20 Javier Villa Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 12 +1 Lap 14
NC 5 Norbert Michelisz Zengő-Dension Team BMW 320 TC Y 7 +6 Laps 18
Ret 18 Tiago Monteiro SUNRED Engineering SUNRED SR León 1.6T 4 Suspension 4
DSQ 21 Fabio Fabiani Proteam Racing BMW 320si Y 12 Disqualified 20
  • 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 13 21:33.182 10 25
2 2 Robert Huff Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 13 +0.957 9 18
3 12 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 13 +3.676 5 15
4 15 Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 13 +4.826 1 12
5 8 Alain Menu Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 13 +8.392 8 10
6 30 Robert Dahlgren Polestar Racing Volvo C30 Drive 13 +9.016 20 8
7 3 Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil-SUNRED SUNRED SR León 1.6T 13 +11.587 11 6
8 9 Darryl O'Young bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 13 +13.031 7 4
9 25 Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 13 +13.959 15 2
10 29 Colin Turkington Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TC Y 13 +14.662 6 1
11 7 Fredy Barth SEAT Swiss Racing by SUNRED SUNRED SR León 1.6T Y 13 +19.693 13
12 5 Norbert Michelisz Zengő-Dension Team BMW 320 TC Y 13 +24.802 18
13 10 Yukinori Taniguchi bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 13 +31.646 16
14 4 Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil-SUNRED SUNRED SR León 1.6T Y 13 +33.495 17
15 74 Pepe Oriola SUNRED Engineering SUNRED SR León 1.6T Y 13 +1:26.671 14
16 20 Javier Villa Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 12 +1 Lap 3
17 11 Kristian Poulsen Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 9 +4 Laps 12
Ret 18 Tiago Monteiro SUNRED Engineering SUNRED SR León 1.6T 1 Race incident 4
Ret 17 Michel Nykjær SUNRED Engineering SUNRED SR León 1.6T Y 0 Race incident 2
DSQ 21 Fabio Fabiani Proteam Racing BMW 320si Y 13 Disqualified 19
  • Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Standings after the event

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

References

  1. "BMW and Volvo lose weight in Donington". Eurosport. Yahoo! Sports. 8 July 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  2. Abbott, Andrew (8 July 2011). "Turkington gets Donington WTCC drive". Touring-Cars.net. Andrew Abbott. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  3. Hudson, Neil (3 July 2011). "Javier Villa gets grid drop for Donington Park". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Archived from the original on 12 April 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  4. Allen, Peter (15 July 2011). "Muller Beats Dahlgren To Top WTCC Donington Test Session". The Checkered Flag. BlackEagleMedia Network. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  5. Glendenning, Mark (16 July 2011). "Rob Huff on top in Donington Park World Touring Car practice". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  6. Glendenning, Mark (16 July 2011). "Rob Huff stays on top in Donington Park practice two". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  7. Abbott, Andrew (16 July 2011). "Muller takes Donington pole". Touring-Cars.net. Andrew Abbott. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  8. Hudson, Neil (17 July 2011). "Robert Dahlgren quickest in morning warm-up". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  9. Broomhead, James (17 July 2011). "Yvan Muller Takes Lights-To-Flag Donington Win". The Checkered Flag. BlackEagleMedia Network. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  10. Abbott, Andrew (17 July 2011). "Muller wins from Huff again". Touring-Cars.net. Andrew Abbott. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
World Touring Car Championship
Previous race:
2011 FIA WTCC Race of Portugal
2011 World Touring Car Championship season Next race:
2011 FIA WTCC Race of Germany
Previous race:
2010 FIA WTCC Race of UK
FIA WTCC Race of UK Next race:
no race
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