Rob Huff has once again moved up a place in the FIA World Touring Car Championship and is now lying 3rd in the Drivers' standings after another determined performance at Monza in Italy saw him overtake Rickard Rydell for the bronze medal position. The 28-year old driver from Cambridgeshire has also confirmed that he'll continue to race in the WTCC in 2009 and will be staying with the works Chevrolet team for a fifth consecutive season.

Team-work was the key to a good qualifying position at Monza, and team-mates Nicola Larini and Alain Menu worked to try and give Rob, the top-placed Chevrolet driver in the WTCC, a tow around the ultra-fast circuit. The three blue Chevrolet Lacetti race cars ran as planned in train formation, although traffic interfered with a potential time improvement on the last qualifying run.

Rob qualified 9th, which was still a very impressive performance given that he was carrying the maximum 70kg of success ballast and 29 cars, one of the biggest entries ever seen on a WTCC event, where on track.

"Being ninth is not too bad," admitted Rob. "I'm forty kilos heavier than Nic and Alain, which roughly translates to 0.4 seconds on this track, which is exactly the amount of time I lose compared to them, so the equation is correct. The extra weight really made the braking suffer, however, especially after the long straights where you really need an anchor."

The first Variante chicane at Monza is usually the scene of an incident-packed opening corner, and this was indeed the case again as Race 1 got underway with a rolling start. Félix Porteiro (BMW) made contact with James Thompson (Honda) in the braking area as the field funnelled towards the tight right hand bend. Thompson spun across the track, hitting Jordi Gené (SEAT), Menu, Pierre-Yves Corthals (SEAT), Stefano D'Aste (BMW) and Rob. Despite being completely sideways at the chicane, Rob controlled the car and was able to continue, eventually recovering to finish 7th and score three points to move him from 4th to 3rd in the WTCC Drivers' table.

Race 2 was even more dramatic, as once again Rob was hit from behind at the first corner; this time with such force that it punched the rear of his Chevrolet Lacetti high into the air and damaged the steering. After several more bumps, Rob was forced through the gravel trap on the exit of the Roggio chicane after a battle for position with Augusto Farfus (BMW), but he still soldiered on – until a puncture two laps from the end of the nine lap race saw him come into the pits and retire.

"I had a really good start in race one and caught a lot of guys asleep," said Rob. "Then I got hit from behind in the first chicane, but luckily managed to catch the car out of a half-spin. Fortunately for me Farfus had a problem which put me in eighth. Then just before the finish line both Nic and Gené had slowed, so I couldn't help but pass the SEAT and finish seventh. All in all, the car handled a lot better now than it did in qualifying.

"At the start of race two someone gave me a right big push up the rear end, which bent my steering so badly that I had to turn right on the straights, and was left with almost no right turn at all in the corners. I soldiered on as well as I could, but two laps from the end I had a puncture and that was it. So, we've again moved up a place in the Championship, although at the same time the gap to the leaders has widened."

Rounds 21 and 22 of the WTCC take place at Okayama in Japan on October 25/26.

Monza Race 1 Results

1.	Y. Muller	(SEAT Leon TDI)	9 laps in 18m16s448
2.	G. Tarquini	(SEAT Leon TDI)	+0s277
3.	A. Priaulx	(BMW 320si)	+1s710
4.	T. Monteiro	(SEAT Leon TDI)	+3s699
5.	N. Larini	(Chevrolet Lacetti)	+8s111
6.	R. Huff	(Chevrolet Lacetti)	+8s206

Monza Race 2 Results

1.	G. Tarquini	(SEAT Leon TDI)	9 laps in 18m18s397
2.	J. Gené	(SEAT Leon TDI)	+0s316
3.	N. Larini	(Chevrolet Lacetti)	+0s646
4.	Y. Muller	(SEAT Leon TDI)	+2s780
5.	A. Menu	(Chevrolet Lacetti)	+3s056
6.	T. Monteiro	(SEAT Leon TDI)	+8s231
DNF.	R. Huff	(Chevrolet Lacetti)	Accident damage (7 laps)

Drivers Points' Standings After Race 20 Of 24
1. Y Muller (SEAT), 95 points; 2. G Tarquini (SEAT), 86; 3. R Huff (Chevrolet), 64; 4. R Rydell (SEAT), 62; 5. A Priaulx (BMW), 61.

Manufacturers' Points Standings After Race 20 Of 24
1. SEAT, 277 points; 2. BMW, 223; 3. Chevrolet, 197; 4. Honda, 46.