After two events on the bounce in China, the two Sébastien Loeb Racing drivers, Rob Huff and Mehdi Bennani, arrived at Suzuka in Japan to contest the penultimate round in the World Touring Car Cup.
For once, all the qualifying sessions for the weekend’s three races took place on Friday. Mehdi Bennani and Rob Huff qualified in seventh and 15th places respectively in the first one and fifth and ninth in the second in their Volkswagen Golf GTI TCRs.
The safety car had to intervene twice in the first race of the weekend, which didn’t make things easy for the Sébastien Loeb Racing team-mates. Bennani was involved in a no-holds-barred battle and fended off the attacks of his rivals to clinch fifth place, while Huff was the victim of a collision in corner no. 2 on lap 4 bringing his first outing of the weekend to a brutal halt.
The Englishman put on a stunning performance in a hectic second heat and got past the front-runners in the first corner. He was under attack for the whole race until the last lap, but held on to his lead and went on to clinch his second victory of the year. His team-mate, Bennani, who drove a solid race, was involved in the mayhem at the start during which there was contact with another car. But this didn’t prevent him from holding on to eighth place.
In race 3, Bennani pulled off a great overtaking move in the Spoon corner on the final lap to finish just shy of the podium. Behind, Huff was involved in a ding-dong battle with the other top guns in the championship and snatched sixth place.
“What a weekend! I feel very relieved to be back on the podium and to win a race. We’ve been unlucky in some of the previous rounds and now we’ve got the monkey off our back with this victory. It’s a great reward for the whole team as they do a really fantastic job. Thanks to their meticulousness we’ve probably got the fastest car in the field. It’s been a really beneficial weekend before our last rendezvous in Macao. Mehdi and I already feel a bit of pressure before this big final, but we can’t wait to finish the season in a blaze of glory.” Rob Huff
“It was a very positive weekend and we scored big points! The car was quick and that reboosts our confidence. I’d like to congratulate Rob on his great victory in race 2. The weekend was packed with no-holds-barred scraps so that win is all the more meritorious. Once again we did a good job as a team and we hope to finish the season on a high note by scoring points in Macao.” Mehdi Bennani
“We’re coming home feeling very satisfied as we thought that the quick Suzuka layout wouldn’t suit the characteristics of the Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR. The cars were light and the drivers were able to optimise their setups although they made very different choices. Rob and Mehdi drove good races helped by a top speed that enabled them to pull off some awesome overtaking moves. Rob stacked all the odds in his favour to win the second race: a good start, great consistency, etc. There was a lot of suspense with some great battles. The engineers and the drivers all did a fantastic job and they reaped the rewards! Now we can’t wait to get to Macao. Rob really loves its special layout so we’re hoping to score a final victory.” Jean-Philippe Nicolao, technical manager
After this weekend Rob Huff is now in ninth place with 197 points and Mehdi Bennani twelfth with 154 points in the overall drivers’ classification. Sébastien Loeb Racing lies in fourth place in the teams’ championship with 365 points.
The next round in the FIA WTCR for Sébastien Loeb Racing will be held on the spectacular Macao circuit (15-18 November).