Yvan Muller leads Cyan Racing 1-2 in second Macau race
Yvan Muller scored his second World Touring Car Cup win of the weekend at Macau by leading home Cyan Racing Lynk & Co team-mate Thed Björk in Race 2 on the Asian street track, as the championship battle heated up further.
Muller started from fifth on the partially-reversed grid, but used a rapid getaway to swiftly snatch the lead with Björk in second having also passed pole-sitting stablemate Yann Ehrlacher early on.
Ehrlacher had to yield further positions on lap two when title-contender Esteban Guerrieri muscled past for third at Lisboa. Guerrieri ran Ehrlacher wide on the run to San Francisco Hill, causing the Frenchman to shuffle down the order into seventh place.
On the next lap, Guerrieri in turn came under pressure from the inspired Kevin Ceccon, who used the momentum of Saturday’s emotional podium to sweep past Guerrieri’s Honda on the run into Mandarin.
Ceccon maintained third place throughout the race, scoring his second podium in as many days in Team Mulsanne’s Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR.
Guerrieri managed to cling on to what could prove a crucial fourth-place finish aboard his Honda, despite coming under strong attack from Hyundai’s Nicky Catsburg in the closing laps.
Catsburg, however, eventually finished 12th, letting BRC Hyundai team-mates Norbert Michelisz and Gabriele Tarquini past.
With championship leader Michelisz down the order, and Muller and Björk clinching a 1-2, the outcome means the overall WTCR title battle has closed up further still. Michelisz still leads, but is now just 11 points ahead of Guerrieri and 17 in front of Muller. Björk sits 33 points off the lead, with all other drivers now out of championship contention.
The third and final race of the weekend takes place at 11:00 local time / 04:00 CET today with Volkwagen’s Rob Huff on pole position.
