Rob Huff charges into TCR World Tour title fight as rivals stumble

Rob Huff has charged right into the TCR World Tour title fight after a strong Sydney Motorsport Park weekend where his main title rivals struggled.

A win, a podium and a fourth place finish has brought the Comtoyou Racing driver to a single point from championship leader Norbert Michelisz.

“I had a very good start [in Race 3], but Fred [Vervisch] was on the inside, and I didn’t see him when I turned in,” said Huff.

“Thankfully my teammate left me the room and I led into T1. Then I was keeping an eye on [Will] Brown, because he had had a great weekend and I had to give him the position in Race 2. He is not racing for the championship, but for me the win would make the difference in the title fight. I found some more pace in the car and was able to create a gap. Fantastic!”

Michelisz got a tough start to the weekend with an eight place finish in the first race, but clawed back points in the final two races with fourth and second.

“I’ve had a good weekend here in Sydney, finishing second in the final race. It was a tough one and I gave it my all to get on the podium,” said Michelisz.

“I’ve scored a lot of important points for the standings this round and I am still leading into the penultimate weekend which was my target before the event so very happy about that.”

Lynk & Co’s Yann Ehrlacher meanwhile had a nightmare weekend after getting eliminated after Q1 of qualifying, received a penalty in the first race and finished outside the top five in all three races – currently trailing the points lead by 21 points in third place.

“It has been a very tough race weekend in Australia. We scored in all races despite crashes, pit stops and difficult weather. Unfortunately, the driving standards leaves a lot to wish for. Now I’m looking forward to the next race at Bathurst where I will carry less weight and we are going to fight hard but fair,” said Yann Ehrlacher.

Mikel Azcona had a difficult weekend as well, dropping down to fourth place in the standings, 38 points behind his Hyundai team-mate.

“It’s been a mixed weekend for me in Sydney. On Friday I was happy as I was able to recover quite a few points in the standings,” said Azcona.

“I felt very good with the Hyundai Elantra N TCR, and I really needed that podium finish in Race 1 to jump a few positions. Saturday was the opposite though; I was struggling much more, and I really had to battle hard – but that’s racing. It’s been great racing alongside TCR Australia, the drivers are very competitive, and I enjoyed the fight. I’m going to take the positives away with me to Bathurst next weekend as we need to be strong there and have the confidence.”

The TCR World Tour field heads to Bathurst next weekend for another joint round with TCR Australia.