Having recorded his first ever FIA World Touring Championship pole in qualifying, Rob Huff put his title bid back on track on race day with a 2nd and 3rd place finish in the two Oschersleben races, in which most of the drivers ahead of him in the standings failed to score.

Rob likes the twisty German circuit, which is located near Magdeburg, mid-way between Hannover and Berlin. Having been fastest there in pre-season testing, the 28-year old driver from Cambridgeshire was confident of putting in a good performance, aided by the fact that his Chevrolet Lacetti was carrying 36kgs of success ballast – almost half as much as the Championship leader.

Rob was on the pace in qualifying on Saturday, and although he was on the front row he went out for one final flying lap to try and get pole position. Despite having to lift off because of a stationary car in the second sector, Rob snatched pole position in the closing moments of qualifying, knocking ex-Formula 1 driver Gabriele Tarquini (SEAT Leon TDI) off the top spot by 0.191 seconds.

"I had a fantastic car in qualifying and a perfect last qualifying lap, bar for Turn 10 where I had to lift for the yellows," said Rob. "In the past we haven't always qualified well here, but we had a great test here earlier this year, so we knew we'd be competitive. That last lap was an all-or-nothing lap, since I was already on the first row anyway. I used every inch of tarmac available and was helped by the fact that the track got grippier and grippier by the end of the session."

A crowd of 41,000 turned up for race day, including 1,000 invited Chevrolet guests. Rob made a good start in Race 1, but an alleged jumped rolling start by Tarquini and mayhem at the very tight first corner marred his chances of victory. Nicola Larini (Chevrolet Lacetti), who had been squeezed by Jordi Gené and Rickard Rydell (SEAT Leon TDIs), spun and hit Rob as he went out at Turn 2. That ended Larini's race, but Rob recovered and chased after Tarquini. Rob was able to overtake Tarquini before the end of the race and take the chequered flag in 2nd position, behind Augusto Farfus (BMW 320si).

In Race 2, Rob started 7th on the reversed grid and managed to survive a hectic first lap – unlike Tiago Monteiro, James Thompson, Alex Zanardi, Ibrahim Okyay, Rickard Rydell and Olivier Tielemans, all of whom had incidents on the opening lap. Rob eventually finished 3rd to claim another podium finish, after overtaking an extremely stubborn Jordi Gené before the finish line.

"I had a very difficult start in Race 1, as it always is here in Oschersleben," said Rob. "It was quite unfair as Tarquini was already ahead of me coming into the last corner, while the lights were still quite red. It is normally the pole sitter who dictates the pace, not the second man on the grid.

"Then for the first corner I stayed on the line and had a good braking point, but then I got hit by Nicola who had been pushed by someone else. It pushed me sideways and the passenger door flew open, but fortunately it closed itself. The incident allowed Augusto to take the lead. I then went into my race mode and passed Tarquini halfway through the race. I knew I couldn't catch Augusto so I settled for second, which netted good points for the championship. I'm also happy for the team as we got two cars on the podium for the first time in Oschersleben.

"In the second race there was the more first-corner carnage, but I steered clear of that this time. I came through fourth on the first lap and knew I had to get Gené in between myself and Farfus to be safe in third, something I managed on lap seven. I immediately could close the gap to the leaders but there was just no way of passing them.

"Still, to take home fourteen points is excellent. Hopefully we can have another weekend like this in Imola. We never give up!"

Rounds 17 and 18 of the WTCC take place at Imola in Italy on September 20/21.

Oschersleben Race 1 Results

1.	A. Farfus	(BMW 320si)	14 laps in 22m43s764
2.	R. Huff	(Chevrolet Lacetti)	+7s639
3.	A. Menu	(Chevrolet Lacetti)	+13s754
4.	T. Monteiro	(SEAT Leon TDI)	+15s537
5.	J. Gené	(SEAT Leon TDI)	+17s913
6.	R. Rydell	(SEAT Leon TDI)	+18s262

Oschersleben Race 2 Results

1.	F. Porteiro	(BMW 320si)	14 laps in 23m01s219
2.	T. Coronel	(SEAT Leon)	+0s359
3.	R. Huff	(Chevrolet Lacetti)	+0s678
4.	J. Gené	(SEAT Leon TDI)	+6s399
5.	A. Priaulx	(BMW 320si)	+6s616
6.	A. Farfus	(BMW 320si)	+6s739

Drivers' Points Standings After Race 16 Of 24
1. Y Muller (SEAT), 66 points; 2. G Tarquini (SEAT), 64; 3. A Priaulx (BMW), 53; 4. R Rydell (SEAT), 51; 5. R Huff (Chevrolet), 50;...

Manufacturers' Points Standings After Race 16 Of 24
1. SEAT, 216 points; 2. BMW, 192; 3. Chevrolet, 157; 4. Honda, 26.