On one of the most difficult circuits to overtake on, and in very changeable weather conditions, Rob Huff scored points in both FIA World Touring Car Championship races at Pau in southwest France on Sunday to move up to 6th in the Drivers' standings. The 28-year old driver from Cambridgeshire powered his Chevrolet Lacetti to 4th place in a dry first race, before coming home 5th in a very wet second race.

After his race win last time out in Valencia, Rob's Chevrolet Lacetti race car arrived in the historic French Pyrenees city of Pau carrying 48kgs of success ballast. This extra weight was expected to be a big disadvantage on the narrow, tight and twisty street circuit, especially on the long uphill straight, in the braking zones and under acceleration out of slow corners.

The two free practice sessions on Saturday were run in treacherously wet conditions, while the afternoon's qualifying session took place on an unexpectedly dry track. This required a last minute u-turn in set-up, and Rob seized the opportunity to use the difficult conditions to overcome some of his weight burden to set the best Chevrolet team time with 6th quickest time, just 0.551 seconds behind pole-sitter Augusto Farfus (BMW).

"It was a difficult day today," admitted Rob. "I think it's been one of the hardest qualifying days we've had in a long time, but all's well that ends well. We kept on tweaking the car in qualifying after this morning's wet practice sessions and we got it right where we wanted. The crew did a fantastic job in fixing the car again after my off from this morning. So to qualify sixth with 48kgs of success ballast on board is quite pleasing."

Race day on Sunday began dry and sunny, but the first race was red flagged on the opening lap after a multi-car pile up at the tight hairpin corner – which fortunately happened behind Rob. The Pau circuit is notoriously difficult to overtake on, but Rob went past Rickard Rydell (SEAT Leon TDI) and then overtook current Championship leader Gabriele Tarquini (SEAT Leon TDI) in a flawless drive to 5th position.

A thunderstorm and heavy rain flooded parts of the track and the paddock just minutes before the start of the second race, forcing the organisers to start the race behind the safety car. Many drivers had already fallen victim to the slippery conditions and crashed into the barriers during the race weekend, so Rob concentrated on keeping out of trouble in Race 2. He was once again quicker than Tarquini, but overtaking was impossible because of the poor visibility in the spray, so Rob drove sensibly to finish 5th – once again bringing his Chevrolet home in a points scoring position and without a scratch on it.

"I made up a place at the first start and after the restart all I had to do was to keep pushing Gabriele," explained Rob. "I noticed in the last few laps that he was locking up and braking early for Turn 2, so on the last lap I just went for it and passed him for fourth. The second race was just a matter of keeping the car on the black stuff and not making mistakes. It wasn't easy, as Gabriele's tail lights didn't work it was very difficult to judge the distance between the two cars and to see the braking points for the corners."

The next round of the WTCC takes place in Brno in the Czech Republic June 14-15.

Pau Race 1 Results

1.	A. Farfus	(BMW 320si)	20 laps in 52m20s842
2.	Y. Muller	(SEAT Leon TDI)	+17s851
3.	J. Gené	(SEAT Leon TDI)	+18s111
4.	R. Huff	(Chevrolet Lacetti)	+19s139
5.	G. Tarquini	(SEAT Leon TDI)	+20s608
6.	R. Rydell	(SEAT Leon TDI)	+21s265

Pau Race 2 Results

1.	A. Priaulx	(BMW 320si)	21 laps in 36m01s406
2.	N. Larini	(Chevrolet Lacetti)	+4s528
3.	R. Rydell	(SEAT Leon TDI)	+5s000
4.	G. Tarquini	(SEAT Leon TDI)	+14s424
5.	R. Huff	(Chevrolet Lacetti)	+18s324
6.	A. Farfus	(BMW 320si)	+19s968

Drivers' Points Standings After Race 8 Of 24
1. G Tarquini (SEAT), 45 points; 2. Y Muller (SEAT), 38; 3. R Rydell (SEAT), 37; 4. A Priaulx (BMW), 33; 5. J Gené (SEAT), 30; 6. R Huff (Chevrolet), 27.

Manufacturers' Points Standings After Race 8 Of 24
1. SEAT, 115 points; 2. BMW, 85; 3. Chevrolet, 81; 4. Honda, 10.