Huff tops both days of WTCC Monza testing
Former champion Rob Huff set the pace on both days of pre-season WTCC testing at Monza.
Photo by: Paolo Belletti
Huff recorded the fastest time on Tuesday's first day of running in his Munnich Motorsport Citroen, and was once again quickest across both morning and afternoon sessions on Wednesday, ending the test on top.
The Briton set his ultimate best time in Wednesday morning's shorter session, making the most of a new set of tyres to post a 1m52.497s lap.
That effort was 1.1 seconds faster than any other driver could muster in the morning, although Tom Coronel improved in the afternoon to end up with the day's second-fastest time.
Coronel managed a 1m53.255s in his ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet, while Tom Chilton was the only other driver to get within a second of Huff's best - the SLR Citroen driver setting a 1m53.340s in the afternoon.
That put Chilton fractionally behind Mehdi Bennani overall, the Moroccan driver having been second quickest on Tuesday behind Huff, but ahead of RC Lada driver Yann Erhlacher's best Tuesday time.
Honda enjoyed a much more productive second day of running, as Tiago Monteiro and Norbert Michelisz recorded the sixth- and seventh-fastest times of the test overall.
The Japanese marque's Monday running had been disrupted when Monteiro's exhaust caught fire, forcing the team to check its system. But the Portuguese driver experienced a less painful second day as he recorded 56 laps, compared to the 12 he managed a day earlier.
Nestor Girolami was best of the Volvo drivers in eighth overall, while Yvan Muller - deputising for the absent Nicky Catsburg - was 10th on the basis of his Tuesday time but ran all day without a transponder on Wednesday.
Testing times (both days):
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Day 1 | Day 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Rob Huff |
Citroen | 1m52.888s | 1m52.497s |
| 2 |  Tom Coronel |
Chevrolet | 1m56.028s | 1m53.255s |
| 3 |  Mehdi Bennani |
Citroen | 1m53.336s | 1m53.789s |
| 4 | Tom Chilton |
Citroen | 1m53.366s | 1m53.340s |
| 5 |  Yann Ehrlacher |
Lada | 1m53.364s | no time |
| 6 |  Tiago Monteiro |
Honda | 1m56.425s | 1m53.509s |
| 7 |  Norbert Michelisz |
Honda | 1m56.050s | 1m53.591s |
| 8 |  Nestor Girolami |
Volvo | 1m54.277s | 1m54.107s |
| 9 | John Filippi |
Citroen | 1m54.800s | 1m54.164s |
| 10 | Yvan Muller |
Volvo | 1m54.366s | no time |
| 11 |  Thed Bjork |
Volvo | 1m54.470s | 1m54.800s |
| 12 |  Ryo Michigami |
Honda | 1m55.186s | 1m54.522s |
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