2013 FIA WTCC Race of Austria

The 2013 FIA WTCC Race of Austria was the fifth round of the 2013 World Touring Car Championship season and the second running of the FIA WTCC Race of Austria. It was held on 19 May 2013 at the Salzburgring in Salzburg, Austria.

Austria 2013 FIA WTCC Race of Austria
Race details
Date19 May, 2013
LocationSalzburg, Austria
CourseSalzburgring
4.241 kilometres (2.635 mi)
Race One
Laps 12
Pole position
Driver France Yvan Muller RML
Time 1:25.756
Podium
First Denmark Michel Nykjær NIKA Racing
Second United Kingdom James Nash bamboo-engineering
Third France Yvan Muller RML
Fastest Lap
Driver United Kingdom Alex MacDowall bamboo-engineering
Time 1:26.925
Race Two
Laps 12
Podium
First United Kingdom James Nash bamboo-engineering
Second France Yvan Muller RML
Third Hungary Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport
Fastest Lap
Driver France Yvan Muller RML
Time 1:26.875

Both races were won from pole position with Michel Nykjær taking victory in the first race for NIKA Racing and James Nash won race two, the first victory in the World Touring Car Championship for both himself and the bamboo-engineering team. This was the first time in WTCC history that both races in a weekend were won by drivers eligible for the Yokohama Independents' Trophy.[1]

The round is best remembered for a qualifying incident where all twelve cars in the second part of qualifying drove slowly around the lap before what was supposed to be their final flying lap. The cars drove slowly around the lap in order to ensure themselves a slipstream for the next lap but all of them missed the checkered flag. A total of fourteen drivers were penalised after the session which drastically reshuffled the grid.

Background

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Coming into the Austrian round Yvan Muller was leading the world drivers' championship and Nash was leading the Yokohama Independents' Trophy.

The Honda Civic WTCCs gained 10 kg of ballast when the compensation weights were revised, pulling them on the maximum ballast of 1,190 kg equal to the Chevrolet Cruze 1.6Ts. The SEAT León WTCCs gained 10 kg to take their weight up to 1,160 kg and the BMW 320 TCs returned to their base weight of 1,150 kg.[2]

Special Tuning Racing elected to miss the Austrian and Russian rounds in order to fix their car which had been plagued with issues since the Race of Morocco.[3]

Following his crash in Hungary, Gabriele Tarquini was allowed by the FIA to run a new engine in his Honda Civic without a penalty.[4]

Report

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Free practice

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Muller topped the opening practice session leading a Chevrolet 1–2–3 ahead of Tom Chilton and Alex MacDowall. Robert Huff was the fastest SEAT in fourth and Norbert Michelisz was fifth in his Zengő Motorsport Honda while the works drivers were both outside the top ten. Darryl O'Young did not set a time during the session due to a turbo problem on his ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC.[5]

Muller led Huff in the second free practice session, Nash in third was the fastest independent driver. James Thompson didn't set any times and spent the entire session in the pit lane while Hugo Valente stopped on track with five minutes to go.[6]

Qualifying

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Chilton led the first session which had seen a number of incidents. Tom Coronel locked up and avoided hitting Pepe Oriola. Oriola then had a collision with the rear of Charles Ng with both sustaining minor bodywork damage. Many of the drivers were trying to get into the slipstream of other cars and towards the end of the session, a group of cars led by Tarquini were slowed as they came round to start a flying lap with Coronel being caught out by the slow moving cars ahead and being launched over the Campos Racing SEAT of Valente. Thompson had parked his car on the exit of the first corner due to steering problems. At the end of the session, Marc Basseng went wide at the final corner and clipped the barriers on the outside before spinning to a halt in front of the pit entry.

All twelve cars formed up for a final flying lap in Q2 with Chilton at the front. Chilton had been going around the lap slowly and with the cars behind looking for a slipstream, nobody overtook. None of the cars made it around to the start line before the checkered flag came out, some of cars dived straight into the pits while others carried on. Coronel had continued and lost the rear of his BMW on one of the fast corners and went backwards into the tyre wall. At the end of the session with an RML 1–2 with Muller ahead of Chilton. Huff was third and MacDowall in fourth was the leading independent. Nash was tenth and claimed the pole position for race two.[7]

After the session, fourteen drivers were called the stewards. All the drivers who took part in Q2 bar Nykjær plus O'Young, Valente and Mikhail Kozlovskiy were summoned.[8] Twelve drivers were deemed to be guilty of unsporting behaviour. Tarquini lost twelve places, Oriola lost eight places and Coronel dropped fifteen places. Muller, Chilton, Michelisz and Tiago Monteiro lost twelve places, Huff received a ten place penalty, MacDowall moved down eight places while Stefano D'Aste, O'Young and Valente all lost five places on the grid.[9] WTCC General Manager Marcello Lotti commented on the incident during the warm–up session the following morning and confirmed the penalties would be applied to race one only.[10]

After qualifying the Honda cars were found to be running illegal rear wings, Tarquini, Monteiro and Michelisz were sent to the back of the grid for race one.[11]

Warm-Up

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Thompson was quickest in the warm–up session on Sunday morning. D'Aste ended his session in the gravel early on. Nash suffered a puncture and Kozlovskiy spun but neither sustained damage to their cars and continued in the session.[12]

Race One

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Nykjær led away from pole position at the rolling start with Nash challenging him for the lead. Nykjær, Nash and Bennani broke away from the rest of the field while Kozlovskiy who had started fourth was dropping back and was soon behind teammate Thompson. Fredy Barth held fifth place after a number of attempts by MacDowall to get past. Barth was passed and then regained the position twice, first on the back straight and then at the first chicane. Another attempted pass by MacDowall on the back straight allowed Muller to take the pair of them. Muller set off after the leaders and eventually caught Bennani who was demoted to fourth place. Muller's teammate Chilton was battling over the final four points positions with Huff, Thompson and Coronel and he came out ahead in seventh place. There was a coming together between the Liqui Moly Team Engstler cars in the final laps when Ng tried to go up the inside of Engstler in the final sector, they made contact which spun Engstler around who then collided with O'Young. The third sector was covered by yellow flags for the final few laps, reducing passing opportunities for the leaders who were running close together. By the final lap Muller had caught the leading pair and they were bumper to bumper but he couldn't make a move, Nykjær won ahead of Nash and Muller. Thompson finished ninth behind Chilton and Huff to secure his second points finish of the year with Coronel coming from nineteenth to tenth.[13]

Race Two

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Nash was on pole position but he was overtaken my Michelisz before the first corner but retook the lead before the end of the lap. Chilton retired in the pit lane after a collision at the first chicane. MacDowall and Thompson were also caught out and ran through the escape road to return to the circuit. Nash was leading Michelisz and Monteiro but Muller who had started tenth was closing in on the Hondas. His first attempt at passing Monteiro was unsuccessful but with the Chevrolet's superior speed on the back straight the RML driver was able to make the pass stick the following lap. Tarquini had dropped back down the field and was defending eighth place from Huff who was unable to pass the Honda driver. Monteiro in fourth was defending his position from Nykjær in the final laps while on the penultimate lap Muller passed Michelisz; he couldn't catch Nash who claimed his first overall WTCC victory and the first for bamboo–engineering.[14]

Results

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Qualifying

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Pos. No. Name Team Car C Q1 Q2 Points
1 12   Yvan Muller RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 1:26.981 1:25.756 5
2 23   Tom Chilton RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 1:26.570 1:25.961 4
3 1   Robert Huff ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport SEAT León WTCC 1:27.128 1:26.554 3
4 9   Alex MacDowall bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 1:26.950 1:26.560 2
5 17   Michel Nykjær NIKA Racing Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 1:27.018 1:26.654 1
6 3   Gabriele Tarquini Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC 1:27.308 1:26.701
7 18   Tiago Monteiro Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC 1:27.068 1:26.746
8 74   Pepe Oriola Tuenti Racing Team SEAT León WTCC 1:27.203 1:26.887
9 5   Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport Honda Civic WTCC 1:27.084 1:26.902
10 14   James Nash bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 1:27.093 1:26.938
11 26   Stefano D'Aste PB Racing BMW 320 TC Y 1:27.319 1:27.432
12 15   Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 1:27.148 10:04.657
13 25   Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 1:27.323
14 8   Mikhail Kozlovskiy Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1:27.415
15 73   Fredy Barth Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TC Y 1:27.564
16 6   Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 1:27.647
17 38   Marc Basseng ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport SEAT León WTCC 1:27.860
18 55   Darryl O'Young ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 1:28.017
19 10   James Thompson Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 1:28.021
20 7   Charles Ng Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 1:28.575
21 37   René Münnich ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport SEAT León WTCC Y 1:28.932
22 19   Fernando Monje Campos Racing SEAT León WTCC Y 1:29.454
107% time: 1:32.629
20   Hugo Valente Campos Racing SEAT León WTCC Y no time set
  • Bold denotes Pole position for second race.

Race 1

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Pos. No. Name Team Car C Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 17   Michel Nykjær NIKA Racing Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 12 17:41.335 1 25
2 14   James Nash bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 12 +0.298 2 18
3 12   Yvan Muller RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 12 +0.645 13 15
4 25   Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 12 +1.586 3 12
5 9   Alex MacDowall bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 12 +4.374 12 10
6 73   Fredy Barth Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TC Y 12 +5.121 5 8
7 23   Tom Chilton RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 12 +7.114 15 6
8 1   Robert Huff ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport SEAT León WTCC 12 +11.711 14 4
9 10   James Thompson Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 12 +15.758 8 2
10 15   Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 12 +15.812 19 1
11 74   Pepe Oriola Tuenti Racing Team SEAT León WTCC 12 +16.000 18
12 3   Gabriele Tarquini Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC 12 +18.388 21
13 18   Tiago Monteiro Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC 12 +19.097 22
14 5   Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport Honda Civic WTCC 12 +19.604 23
15 26   Stefano D'Aste PB Racing BMW 320 TC Y 12 +20.117 16
16 8   Mikhail Kozlovskiy Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 12 +23.511 4
17 37   René Münnich ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport SEAT León WTCC Y 12 +27.793 10
18 7   Charles Ng Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 12 +32.141 9
19 6   Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 9 +3 Laps 6
20 55   Darryl O'Young ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 9 +3 Laps 17
Ret 20   Hugo Valente Campos Racing SEAT León WTCC Y 8 Race incident 20
Ret 38   Marc Basseng ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport SEAT León WTCC 8 Race incident 7
Ret 19   Fernando Monje Campos Racing SEAT León WTCC Y 3 Radiator 11
  • Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Race 2

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Pos. No. Name Team Car C Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 14   James Nash bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 12 17:36.853 1 25
2 12   Yvan Muller RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 12 +1.438 10 18
3 5   Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport Honda Civic WTCC 12 +1.818 2 15
4 18   Tiago Monteiro Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC 12 +3.483 4 12
5 17   Michel Nykjær NIKA Racing Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 12 +4.064 6 10
6 9   Alex MacDowall bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 12 +4.574 7 8
7 74   Pepe Oriola Tuenti Racing Team SEAT León WTCC 12 +7.898 3 6
8 3   Gabriele Tarquini Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC 12 +9.025 5 4
9 1   Robert Huff ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport SEAT León WTCC 12 +9.483 8 2
10 15   Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 12 +9.859 12 1
11 38   Marc Basseng ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport SEAT León WTCC 12 +13.627 16
12 10   James Thompson Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 12 +14.145 17
13 73   Fredy Barth Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TC Y 12 +14.556 15
14 6   Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 12 +14.857 19
15 8   Mikhail Kozlovskiy Lukoil Lada Sport Lada Granta 12 +15.155 14
16 25   Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 12 +16.223 13
17 19   Fernando Monje Campos Racing SEAT León WTCC Y 12 +27.497 22
18 37   René Münnich ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport SEAT León WTCC Y 12 +41.749 18
19 7   Charles Ng Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 12 +46.282 21
NC 23   Tom Chilton RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 6 +6 Laps 9
DNS 26   Stefano D'Aste PB Racing BMW 320 TC Y 0 Did not start 11
DNS 55   Darryl O'Young ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 0 Did not start 20
DNS 20   Hugo Valente Campos Racing SEAT León WTCC Y 0 Did not start 23
  • Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Standings after the event

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

References

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  1. ^ "NYKJÆR AND NASH SHARED AUSTRIAN WINS". World Touring Car Championship. Kigema Sport Organisation. 20 May 2013. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  2. ^ "CHEVROLET AND HONDA ON SAME WEIGHT". World Touring Car Championship. Kigema Sport Organisation. 9 May 2013. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  3. ^ Hudson, Neil (16 May 2013). "Special Tuning Racing to miss Salzburg and Moscow". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  4. ^ Hudson, Neil (18 May 2013). "Force majeure engine change for Gabriele Tarquini". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  5. ^ Abbott, Andrew (18 May 2013). "Salzburgring: Muller on top in practice". Touring-Cars.net. Andrew Abbott. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  6. ^ Hudson, Neil (18 May 2013). "Yvan Muller leads Rob Huff in second Austrian practice". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  7. ^ Tremayne, Sam (18 May 2013). "Salzburgring WTCC: Yvan Muller secures third pole of 2013". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  8. ^ Hudson, Neil (18 May 2013). "14 drivers under investigation post qualifying craziness". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  9. ^ "MASS PENALTIES PUT NYKJÆR ON POLE". World Touring Car Championship. Kigema Sport Organisation. 18 May 2013. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  10. ^ "LOTTI: DRIVERS WERE GOING TOO SLOW !". World Touring Car Championship. Kigema Sport Organisation. 19 May 2013. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  11. ^ Hudson, Neil (18 May 2013). "Honda excluded from qualifying for illegal rear wing". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  12. ^ "THOMPSON'S LADA TOPS WARM-UP". World Touring Car Championship. Kigema Sport Organisation. 19 May 2013. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  13. ^ Tremayne, Sam (19 May 2013). "Salzburgring WTCC: Nykjaer holds off Nash to win race one". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  14. ^ Tremayne, Sam (19 May 2013). "Salzburgring WTCC: Nash snatches first WTCC victory". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
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World Touring Car Championship
Previous race:
2013 FIA WTCC Race of Hungary
2013 World Touring Car Championship season Next race:
2013 FIA WTCC Race of Russia
Previous race:
2012 FIA WTCC Race of Austria
FIA WTCC Race of Austria Next race:
2014 FIA WTCC Race of Austria