Chevrolet Lacetti driver Rob Huff narrowly missed out on two points scoring finishes when the 2006 FIA World Touring Car Championship resumed at Magny Cours, France yesterday. The 25 year-old from Newmarket, qualified 15th for the first of two races, after traffic prevented him from getting a clear run.

"The car feels good, but I just didn't get a chance to put a proper lap together," said Rob. "Then on my fastest lap, a privateer went off twice and each time cut back in right in front of me and held me up. That lost me at least two or three tenths. Near the end I saw quite a few cars improving their times by pushing the bollards aside in the chicane, but I decided not to go that route as I was disqualified for doing exactly that last year."

During race one, Rob made good progress, passing both Yvan Muller and his own team-mate Alain Menu before Muller locked up and rammed the back of Rob's car. Rob though was determined to retake the position and repassed him at the hairpin, before moving ahead of Chevrolet's third driver Nicola Larina at the chicane.

"Race one was really good, I started 15th and had a good start, passing Alain while getting away. I got past Muller and was behind Nicola when Muller locked up under braking and hit me from behind. However, my car was much better and I was able to take him back at the hairpin. By that time, though the rest of the field was too far ahead and I could not catch them. I'm pretty pleased with the result though, we definitely had good race pace and I set my fastest lap on the penultimate lap so the car was consistent throughout."

Race two again had Rob starting from ninth and another good start, in which he avoided the first lap incidents, saw him up to seventh by the fourth lap before being hit from behind at the hairpin, which threw the handling out. Over the closing laps, Rob then struggled with gearbox and engine problems, dropping him down to ninth at the finish.

"We changed the set-up slightly to improve the pace for race two and things were looking good for a points-scoring finish until I got hit up the rear at the hairpin. This threw the handling out completely and allowed Peter Terting through and then the gearbox gave up when selecting fourth. Generally though I'm pretty pleased with my own performance this weekend."

Rob's next Chevrolet outing will be at Brands Hatch on May 20/21. "I'm really looking forward to the home race. There will be a lot of family and friends there and that really helps. If we can just get our qualifying pace improved things will be great, as we certainly have the race pace. I'm confident I can get a podium there, we'll have no ballast and as long as I can get a good qualifying spot I think I'll be in a good position."