Rob Huff scored his first podium result of the season when he finished 2nd Round 11 of the FIA World Touring Car Championship at Porto, and in doing so played a crucial role in giving Chevrolet its first ever 1-2-3 race finish.

The historic 2.9 mile Boavista street circuit in Portugal, a former Grand Prix track which until 2005 had not been raced on for 45 years, was the venue for Rounds 11 and 12 of the WTCC. Flat-out corners, tight chicanes and the unforgiving concrete walls which lined the track were a real challenge, as none of the 26 drivers had raced there before. Accidents, even during testing and free practice, were common, and the all-important qualifying session had to be red flagged twice

Many struggled to come to grips with the demanding 19 turn circuit, but Rob loved it, as he set about finding a good set-up for his Chevrolet Lacetti WTC. And he did just that, as the 27-year old driver from Cambridgeshire qualified second on the grid - one place behind team-mate and pole-sitter Alain Menu and one place ahead of Nicola Larini, to give Chevrolet and the RML team its first 1-2-3 qualifying result of the season.

It was a textbook rolling start by the Chevrolet trio, as they maintained their position at the front of the pack. Behind, things weren't so trouble-free, and six of the 13 laps were run behind the Safety Car, after a five-car pile-up on lap two involving Emmet O'Brien (SEAT), Sergio Hernandez (BMW), Roberto Colciago (SEAT), Maurizio Ceresoli (SEAT) and Miguel Freitas (Alfa Romeo). The restart proved no problem for all the Chevrolet drivers, and five racing laps later Menu, Rob and Larini took the chequered flag in formation to give Chevrolet its first 1-2-3 WTCC race victory.

Over five hours later, 22 surviving cars made a good standing start to Round 12 of the WTCC. As the top eight finishers from the morning's race started in reverse order, Rob started from seventh position on row four. He initially lost a place to Augusto Farfus, but overtook the BMW driver on lap two and then overtook Gabriele Tarquini (SEAT). However, a similar overtaking manoeuvre on Yvan Muller (SEAT) in Turn 1, saw Rob forced onto the dirty part of the track and, unable to slow for the left hand corner, slide head-on into the tyre wall. His Lacetti WTC wasn't badly damaged, and Rob was able to continue and finish the race in 11th place.

"Overall, I'm very pleased with my race weekend at Porto," said Rob. "Since the opening races in Brazil I've had some rotten luck and my team-mates have been scoring points. I've been trying to pull myself out of a downward spiral, and now I've done it with a second place finish - and I'm absolutely chuffed to bits!

"I had a few mishaps in qualifying, but at the end of the session I managed to bang in a good time and qualify on the front row of the grid. With the three Chevrolets in the top three positions, Alain, Nicola and I spoke before the first race and discussed what we'd do when the race started, and what would be our various plan of action in all the different scenarios. We all made a good start and Alain and I were side by side for the first three corners, and the plan worked perfectly as we gave each other room. Then I tucked in behind Alain and we drove a textbook race to give Chevrolet its first one-two-three finish. Everyone at Chevrolet and RML has worked so hard for this moment, and it was nice to make history on such an historic track. When we arrived in the WTCC at Monza in 2005 we were so far off the pace, and now for all three Chevrolet drivers to stand on the same podium just two and a half years later shows what a great job everyone has done.

"It was over five hours later that we lined up for the second race, and by then the wind had really picked up," continued Rob. "The section of track down by the coast was particularly slippery, because on one side of the circuit was a beach and on the other were flower beds with very fine sandy soil, and the swirling wind had blown all this onto the track. After a good start I managed to overtake Augusto Farfus and Gabriele Tarquini without a problem and tried the same move on Yvan Muller in Turn 1. Unfortunately, that was right by the sea and probably the worst part of the track because of the sand. Yvan wasn't going to make it easy for me to overtake and he forced me wide, and I found myself off the racing line and on all this sand and dust. I couldn't slow down enough, locked the wheels and slid head-on into the tyre barrier. I got going again and eventually finished eleventh.

"I'm not disappointed, because the main thing for me is that I'm back up at the front fighting for victory, and that is a massive confidence boost. I've really enjoyed the race weekend in Porto; the street circuit is great, the atmosphere in the paddock and the city has been fantastic, there were a lot of spectators and best of all my race car has been awesome!"

Rob's next race meeting will be Rounds 13 and 14 of the FIA WTCC, takes place at Anderstrop in Sweden on July 28/29.

Porto Race 1 Results

1.	A. Menu	Chevrolet Lacetti	13 laps in 34m07.853s
2.	R. Huff	Chevrolet Lacetti	+0.837
3.	N. Larini	Chevrolet Lacetti	+1.618
4.	G. Tarquini	SEAT Leon	+1.929
5.	Y. Muller	SEAT Leon	+5.418

Porto Race 2 Results

1.	A. Priaulx	BMW 320si	13 laps in 32m02.175s
2.	J. Müller	BMW 320si	+2.057
3.	A. Menu	Chevrolet Lacetti	+4.394
4.	T. Coronel	SEAT Leon	+4.798
5.	Y. Muller	SEAT Leon	+6.188
11.	R. Huff	Chevrolet Lacetti	+18.801
20.	N. Larini	Chevrolet Lacetti	+1 lap (accident)

Drivers Points Standings After Race 12 Of 22
1. J Müller (BMW), 58pts; 2. A Farfus (BMW), 56; 3. A Priaulx (BMW) 56; 4. Y Muller (SEAT) 39; 5. A Menu (Chevrolet), 38 ; 5. N Larini (Chevrolet) 38;… 9. R Huff (Chevrolet) 22;…

Manufacturers Standings After Race 12 Of 22
1. BMW, 167pts; 2. SEAT, 124; 3. Chevrolet, 111; 4. Alfa Romeo, 57.