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WTCC Race 2 – D’Aste wins from Oriola

While at the front D'Aste was performing his best defense driving to keep Oriola and Tarquini at bay, Rob Huff, Alain Menu and Yvan Muller were stuck in fifth, sixth and seventh positions behind Mehdi Bennani.

Only in the last two laps they finally managed to overtake the Proteam Racing BMW. Huff and Menu did it on lap 24 and for a while Muller found himself second in the points for the first time this year. However, the reigning champion was quick to react and grabbed the sixth position on the last lap. A move that enabled him to stay on equal points with Huff.

Just like in the first race, there were close fights for the positions. Aleksei Dudukalo, beat Alex MacDowall for eighth, and Tiago Monteiro stole tenth from Franz Engstler scoring a second point for Honda. Further back, Tom Boardman finished in 12^th after a race-long battle with O'Young, Cerqui, Nash and Coronel. 

Key moments
Start - D'Aste takes the lead from Oriola and Tarquini
Lap 1 - Michelisz it punted off at Turn 3
Lap 2 - Nash overtakes Ng for 14^th
Lap 3 - Dudukalo drives wide at Turn 8 and slips down from 5^th to 8^th behind the Chevrolet trio
Lap 4 - MacDowall overtakes Monteiro for tenth
Lap 6 - Monteiro keeps Boardman at bay
Lap 5 - MacDowall overtakes Engstler for ninth
Lap 9 - D'Aste loses his rearview mirror brushing the tyres at Turn 7
Lap 15 - Yoshimoto exits at Turn 8
Lap 18 - Tarquini knocks on Oriola's rear bumper
Lap 19 - Monje retires with technical problems
Lap 24 - Huff and Menu overtake Bennani for fourth and fifth
Lap 26 - Muller overtakes Bennani for sixth

Withdrawals
N. Michelisz: race incident; F. Monje: mechanical failure

Standings

Drivers' Championship

• 1. MULLER Yvan 345 pt.
• 2. HUFF Rob 345 pt.
• 3. MENU Alain 307 pt.
• 4. TARQUINI Gabriele 220 pt.
• 5. CORONEL Tom 172 pt.
• 6. MICHELISZ Norbert 152 pt.
• 7. ORIOLA Pepe 131 pt.
• 8. D'ASTE Stefano 117 pt.
• 9. MACDOWALL Alex 66 pt.
• 10. MONTEIRO Tiago 66 pt.

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Manufacturers' Championship

• 1. Chevrolet 835 pt.
• 2. BMW Customer Racing Teams 543 pt.
• 3. SEAT Customer Technology 532 pt.

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Yokohama Drivers' Trophy

• 1. MICHELISZ Norbert 136 pt.
• 2. ORIOLA Pepe 126 pt.
• 3. D'ASTE Stefano 101 pt.

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Yokohama Teams' Trophy

• 1. ROAL Motorsport 142 pt.
• 2. Tuenti Racing Team 136 pt.
• 3. Lukoil Racing Team 136 pt.

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Photo gallery: WTCC Suzuka East Circuit