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WTCC Macau HLTS - International Sound and Commentaries

The final races of the season were full of coups de théâtre, as they always are on the infamous streets of Macau.

Overtaking manoeuvres, incidents and red flags provided plenty of excitement to spectators and TV viewers in a day that culminated with Chevrolet celebrating a double world title - something than none of the GM brands had ever achieved before - and consecrated the 26-year old Norbert Michelisz as one of the best touring car drivers at the end of his maiden professional season.
If the WTCC had arrived in Macau with the Drivers' title already in the hands of Yvan Muller, there was still enough at stake to thrill the fans.

Rob Huff claimed a dominant light-to-flag victory in Race 1, giving Chevrolet the Manufacturers' title and jumping ahead of Gabriele Tarquini to second in the Drivers' Championship.
In Race 2 Michelisz imitated Huff, taking the lead from Kristian Poulsen at the first braking point and managing to keep Tarquini at safe distance despite the fact that the race was suspended and restarted. In the six WTCC seasons held so far Michelisz was only the second driver - after Tom Coronel in Japan in 2008 - to claim an overall victory without driving a factory or factory-backed car.
The fight for the second place in the championship ended under the chequered flag, where Tarquini beat Huff by three tenths. They finished the season on equal points, but the Italian prevailed for having won five races against three.

The third man in contention, Andy Priaulx lost his chance when he was caught in a pile up at the start of the first race.

In the Independents' Trophy the hopes of the local fans to see Darryl O'Young to clinch the title vanished when the Hong Kong racer was eliminated by Tom Coronel during the first race. When Kristian Poulsen, who had won Race 1, made a mistake and crashed in the second race, Proteam Motorsport's Sergio Hernández knew he had won the title. Then he dropped all cautions to chase Franz Engstler and claim his fifth win of the year. The Italian outfit also clinched the Team's Trophy.
The championship is now facing the winter break. The 2011 season will kick off on March 20^th in Brazil with the cars powered by the new 1.6-litre engines.

IRC Cyprus and Golden Stage

Nasser Al-Attiyah has become the eighth different winner in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge this year after claiming victory on the mixed-surface FxPro Cyprus Rally, the 12th and final round of the all-action 2010 IRC season, which finished in Limassol this evening (Saturday).

Andreas Mikkelsen has won the inaugural Love Cyprus Golden Stage Rally, which was shown live on Eurosport and Cypriot channel LumiereTV and carried a prize fund of 150,000 Euros.

WTCC Okayama HLTS - International Sound and commentaries

For the third consecutive year Japanese Gods sent the rain to soak the WTCC races at Okayama. In spite of this, local fans did not miss the last appearance of the World Championship before it moves to Suzuka from next year and a crowd of 31,000 attended over the weekend.

After a Saturday that was clearly in favour of BMW, the rainy Sunday smiled to Yvan Muller. In extremely difficult conditions the Chevrolet driver kept a cool head and collected two third places that are worth their weight in gold. Especially as his two rivals in the title fight. committed hara-kiri.
After a brilliant second place in the first race, Andy Priaulx spun off and retired in the early stages of Race 2. A few laps later Gabriele Tarquini lost control and crashed from the lead.

The Italian, reigning world champion, has been cut out of the fight, while Priaulx now has a 37-point gap with 50 still to be awarded.

In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet is only 14 points shy from securing the title.
Rob Huff and Augusto Farfus shared victories today. The Briton pushed beyond the limits in the first race to get past the BMW cars of Farfus and Priaulx, while the Brazilian managed to stay on the track in the final laps of the second race after forcing Tarquini to make the fatal mistake.

The championship will resume for the season finale (rounds 21 and 22) at Macau, on November 21 where the Rookie Challenge and the Independents' Trophy will also elect their champions. 

IRC Scotland HLTS - International Sound and commentaries

Juho Hänninen claimed his third victory of the year in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge after beating Andreas Mikkelsen in arduous conditions on the RACMSA Rally of Scotland. The win earned him enough points to put him out of reach of any of his rivals for this year’s drivers’ title. He will be crowned officially after the next round, the FxPro Rally Cyprus.

Only nine drivers were classified at the finish as the fast pace of the rally took a brutal toll on the drivers and their machines.

IRC Sanremo HLTS International Sound and Commentaries

Paolo Andreucci has claimed his first victory in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge after defeating fellow Italian Giandomenico Basso in a close fight on Rallye Sanremo, which took place on the testing mountain roads of northern Italy's Imperia province on Friday and Saturday (September 24-25).

WTCC Valencia HLTS - International Sound and Commentaries

The home race meeting resulted in a complete triumph for SEAT. Not only did the Spanish car manufacturer manage to win both races with SR-Sport's Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro, but Tarquini's hopes to retain the WTCC crown were definitely relaunched.
In Race 1 the current world champion dominated the field claiming his fifth win of the season from the Chevrolet pair of Yvan Muller and Rob Huff.
With a brilliant overtaking on Andy Priaulx at the start of Race 2, Monteiro paved the road to his second victory of the year, leaving Muller, Tarquini and Priaulx battling each other for second place in a duel that eventually could prove crucial for the title fight.
Today Muller added two more podium results to an impressive series and stretched his lead once again. The 2008 champion scored 36 points, 14 more than Priaulx, but four less than Tarquini. The gap between Muller and Priaulx is now 25 points (which equates to one race win), while Tarquini is a further four points adrift. It will be a three-men final shoot out, although Rob Huff still has theoretical chances as he lies 69 points behind with 100 still at stake.
There is the same uncertainty in the Manufacturers' Championship that is led by Chevrolet with a 45-point margin ahead of SEAT Customers Technology. BMW lies third with a gap of 78.
With five victories in the six latest races Kristian Poulsen has climbed up to second in the Independents' Trophy, moving one and two points ahead of Stefano D'Aste and Darryl O'Young respectively. Sergio Hernández continues to lead, but he saw his advantage cut to 31 points.
Fredy Barth and Michel Nykjær shared wins in the Rookie Challenge, but Norbert Michelisz is still leading the Swiss by 4 points. Nykjær is third, only 18 points behind the young Hungarian.
Indeed anything can still happen in the two final events of the season, Japan and Macau.
The championship will resume after a 40-day break for rounds 19 and 20 at Okayama, Japan on October 31.

WTCC Oschersleben - HLTS International Sound and Commentaries

Alain Menu and Andy Priaulx won one race apiece in Oschersleben today. The Swiss driver gave Chevrolet their first victory on the German track, while the Briton scored his sixth win of the season and moved further ahead in the Drivers' Championship. In the two latest meetings, Priaulx has recovered 38 points from the leader Yvan Muller, reducing his gap to 11, and now he has also jumped ahead of Gabriele Tarquini (who has scored only 2 points in the three latest races) in second position.
The first race was a Chevrolet show. Rob Huff and Menu took control from the beginning, but the former was later black-flagged for hitting the poleman Augusto Farfus at the start. This enabled Menu to claim his first victory of the year from Farfus and Muller.
In Race 2, Priaulx dashed ahead of the SEAT pair of Michelisz and Nykjær and kissed goodbye to the rest of the field on his way to a solo flight. Farfus and Muller finished far behind him in second and third after Monteiro was given a drive-through for hitting both Nykjær and Michelisz.

IRC Barum - HLTS with International Sound and Commentaries

Freddy Loix has become the most successful driver in the history of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge by taking a record-breaking sixth win and his third in as many starts this season after a dramatic climax to Barum Czech Rally Zlin today (Sunday) when the lead changed hands three times on the final four stages.

Juho Hanninen claimed second to maintain his title advantage while third place for local hero Pavel Valousek not only ensured a Skoda Fabia one-two-three but also enabled the Czech firm to clinch the 2010 IRC manufacturers' crown for the first time with three rounds remaining.

IRC Madeira - HLTS International Sound and Commentaries

Freddy Loix took victory on Rali Vinho Madeira, which finished in Funchal last Saturday (7 August), after going fastest on 14 of the 21 all-asphalt special stages that formed round eight of the 2010 IRC season.

What was all the more remarkable about his performance in his works Skoda Fabia S2000 Facelift, was the fact he was recovering from a dislocated shoulder, sustained when he fell off his motorbike a fortnight before the rally. He received several painkilling injections to numb the pain as he charged to his second victory in as many starts in the IRC this year.

WTCC Brno HLTS International Sound and Commentaries

British drivers won all today in Brno as Rob Huff took his first victory of the season for Chevrolet in Race 1 and Andy Priaulx scored BMW's 50^th WTCC win in Race 2.

These results, joint with the bad luck that hit Yvan Muller and Gabriele Tarquini, meant a big leap forward in the championship classification for both, Priaulx and Huff. 

In Race 1, Huff claimed a lights-to-flag victory despite a short safety car period interrupting proceedings. He crossed the line ahead of reigning world champion Gabriele Tarquini and his teammate Alain Menu.

In Race 2, BMW Team RBM's Priaulx came from fourth on the grid to take an extra special victory at the place where he scored his first win for BMW back in 2003. Colin Turkington finished second after holding off the charge from Menu, who obtained his second podium finish of the day.

Yvan Muller did not score this weekend and remained on 199 points with Tarquini (who retired in the second race) now just 5 points adrift on 194. Priaulx lies third, only 16 points behind the leader, whil Huff is fourth and reduced his gap to 32.

Darryl O'Young, the young rookie from Hong Kong, dominated the Independents' category taking two wins. He has now closed the gap in the standings to Sergio Hernández who still leads. O'Young and Michel Nykjær shared victories in the Rookie Challenge that is now led by Fredy Barth.
The championship will resume after the summer break for rounds 15 and 16 at Oschersleben, Germany on September 5.