Despite being tapped into a half spin at the first corner of the first race and doing much of Race 2 with bent steering, Rob Huff came away from Estoril in Portugal with two more points-scoring results in his Chevrolet Lacetti, which moves him up a place to 5th in the FIA World Touring Car Championship.

Having tested at the former Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit in the winter, the 28-year old driver from Cambridgeshire was familiar with the 2.7 mile track, despite it hosting a round of the WTCC for the first time. With only 27kg of success ballast on board, Rob knew that he had a good chance of scoring points in Portugal – and things got off to a good start when he set the 5th quickest time in Friday's test session, despite rain making the track very slippery.

The following day saw Rob set the fastest time in Free Practice 2, with none of the other 25 drivers able to better his 1:48.079. He followed that by qualifying in 4th position to secure a second row starting slot for the first of two races, 0.383 seconds behind his team-mate Nicola Larini, who recorded his first WTCC pole position.

"I'm pretty pleased with fourth and very happy for Nic, he deserves it if anyone does," said Rob. "My first set of tyres worked really well, but on the second and third sets the car became nervous to the point I didn't always know what it wanted to do. Then two other cars tried to get a tow in the end, which distracted me a bit on that last fast lap. It's disappointing because I had the car to do better."

On race day, Rob was to finish both races in the points – but on each occasion he collected damage and had to race on with an ill-handling car.

At the first rolling start, Rob got away well and made a brave move around the outside of Turn 1. As the cars bunched up, Jordi Gené (SEAT Leon TDI) was pushed into Rob, sending his innocent Lacetti sideways. Rob kept his foot hard down on the accelerator and did a magnificent job of keeping the car on the track, and despite the car's rear alignment now out, Rob pressed on to regain lost ground. He overtook Andy Priaulx (BMW 320si) and then Gené in the closing stages of the race to finish 4th.

Race 2 began with a more traditional standing start, and after another good get away he was soon in contact with Gené again. Yvan Muller (SEAT Leon TDI) overtook Gené at Turn 1 on lap three and as Rob tried to follow the Spaniard closed the door and touched Rob's front wheel, bending the steering. Once again Rob had to complete the 12 lap race with a damaged car, but held on well to finish 5th.

"I had a good start and was running level with Rickard Rydell towards the end of the straight. I then could go only one way, so I thought 'be brave' and went around the outside. Then someone hit Jordi Gené and he tapped me into a half spin and I lost a couple of places. I then sat behind Andy Priaulx and Jordi for some eight laps at which time I thought it was time to interfere. I had looked after my tyres so I could make two good moves near the end and bring home more points, which was very good.

"In race two I was following the SEATs when Yvan Muller pushed Jordi out of the way, but he came back on the track and gave a big swipe which bent the steering. From then on I had really bad understeer and it was just a matter of saving as many points as I could.

"In the end I've come away from Portugal with nine points and moved up a place in the World Championship – so all in all, it wasn't a bad race weekend."

The next round of the WTCC takes place at Brands Hatch on July 26-27.

Estoril Race 1 Results

1.	R Rydell	(SEAT Leon TDI)	12 laps in 22m05s135
2.	N Larini	(Chevrolet Lacetti)	+0s816
3.	Y Muller	(SEAT Leon TDI)	+8s160
4.	R Huff	(Chevrolet Lacetti)	+10s681
5.	J Gené	(SEAT Leon TDI)	+12s316
6.	A Priaulx	(BMW 320si)	+12s605

Estoril Race 2 Results

1.	T Monteiro	(SEAT Leon TDI)	12 laps in 22m06s495
2.	Y Muller	SEAT Leon TDI)	+2s635
3.	A Priaulx	(BMW 320si)	+2s921
4.	F Porteiro	(BMW 320si)	+3s578
5.	R Huff	(Chevrolet Lacetti)	+4s028
6.	N Larini	(Chevrolet Lacetti)	+4s466

Drivers' Points Standings After Race 12 Of 24
1. G Tarquini (SEAT), 58 points; 2. Y Muller (SEAT), 55; 3. R Rydell (SEAT), 48; 4. A Priaulx (BMW), 43; 5. R Huff (Chevrolet), 36; 6. J Gené (SEAT), 34;...

Manufacturers' Points Standings After Race 12 Of 24
1. SEAT, 172 points; 2. BMW, 135; 3. Chevrolet, 115; 4. Honda, 19.