Rob Huff enjoyed his best racing weekend of the 2007 season so far, finishing 4th in both FIA World Touring Car Championship races around the famous street circuit at Pau last weekend.

Pau is to the WTCC what Monaco is to Formula 1, and many drivers consider the bumpy and twisty street circuit overlooking the Pyrénées mountain range in the south-west corner of France to be the bigger challenge. The first motor race was held at Pau in 1901, and the narrow track around Parc Beaumont is notoriously difficult to overtake on. With 24 touring cars on the circuit, qualifying well would be even more important than normal, and after a small drama at the start of the session, the 27-year old Cambridgeshire driver qualified his works Chevrolet Lacetti WTC 6th on the grid – one place ahead of the reigning World Champion Andy Priaulx and only half a second off the pole-setting time on his first visit to the circuit.

"I clipped a kerb early in the qualifying session and had to spend some time in the pits for some suspension repairs," said Rob. "So, I had a slow start of the qualifying session but things went better and better after that. I am pleased with the car, the result and most of all with the consistency and the good pace throughout the session."

With hundreds of Chevrolet VIP guests amongst the thousands of spectators, Rob made a great start in the first of two races on Sunday. He was held up slightly by team-mate Nicola Larini during the race, but when Larini clipped the Armco and broke the front left wheel, Rob was able to overtake. By then the top three cars had pulled away, yet Rob was nonetheless happy to finish a trouble-free 4th.

With the top eight from race one starting the second race in reserve order, Rob began the afternoon's charge from 5th on the grid. After another good start he battled hard for a place on the podium with former Formula 1 driver Tiago Monteiro, but such is the nature of the Pau track that Rob just couldn't get past and he had to settle for 4th once more.

"Race 1 was relatively quiet and uneventful for me," said Rob. "I was behind Nicola, trying to protect him. Towards mid-race, he started having problems and going slower, so we lost contact with the front-runners. Once Nicola was out of the race, I could increase the pace and did some good lap times but it was too late to hope catching up with third position. In Race 2, I tried throughout the entire race to overtake Tiago Monteiro but I couldn't. It was a good fight and I am very happy with my two fourth places. My championship is really starting now".

The two excellent points-scoring results at Pau gives Rob ten points and elevates him to 11th in the series. However, with so many drivers so close together, another similar performance next time out at Brno in the Czech Republic on June 16/17 will put his title challenge right back on track. And Rob will travel there with a lot of confidence, having won at Brno last year.

Pau Race 1 Results

1.	A Menu	Chevrolet Lacetti	19 laps in 26m42s140
2.	Y Muller	SEAT Leon	+2s260
3.	T Monteiro	SEAT Leon	+3s808
4.	R Huff	Chevrolet Lacetti	+9s194
5.	F Porteiro	BMW 320si	+11s375

Pau Race 2 Results

1.	A Farfus	BMW 320si	21 laps in 31m54s553
2.	A Priaulx	BMW 320si	+0s464
3.	T Monteiro	SEAT Leon	+5s185
4.	R Huff	Chevrolet Lacetti	+9s625
5.	J Gené	SEAT Leon	+13s018

Drivers Points Standings After Race 8 Of 22
1. A Priaulx (BMW), 42 pts; 2. A Frafus (BMW), 40; 3. J Müller (BMW) 31; 4. Y Muller (SEAT), 28; 5. N Larini (Chevrolet) 25; …11. R Huff (Chevrolet), 14, etc

Manufacturers Standings After Race 8 Of 22
1. BMW, 106 pts; 2. SEAT, 86; 3. Chevrolet, 71; 4. Alfa Romeo, 39.