The most exciting races in the WTCC championship this season delivered perhaps the most surprising but pleasing result for LADA SPORT ROSNEFT as Rob Huff battled from 13th on the grid to 3rd place and a trophy in an incredible display by the driver and his LADA Vesta. This after a spirited points scoring 8th position in Race 1 earlier.

After missing out in qualifying Huff and the LADA SPORT ROSNEFT team searched for solutions to improve the car and a concerted effort by the entire team through the night to give the 2012 World Champion a fighting chance in the races. And fight they did, in what Huff later described as “one of my best performances ever” the Vesta made amazing progress through the field making the most of every opportunity to pass rivals before settling into a race long battle with Sebastian Loeb and Gabrielle Tarquini which produced some spectacular racing with the combination of LADA and Huff coming out on top.

Rob Huff: "That was one of my best performances ever! I really appreciate what my LADA SPORT ROSNEFT team has done to provide me with the competitive car. Vesta felt fantastic on the track. I felt very comfortable and I was able to overtake and defend against the attacks of  my rivals from behind. Brilliant race!"

Debutant with the team Nicolas Lapierre, more used to longer races coped well with the intensity of his first taste of touring car sprint racing, finishing 11th in Race 1 and 9th in Race 2 whilst getting to grips with the close battling that is the WTCC. “I think I did ok,” said Lapierre “ I am happy to score some points and I’m learning all the time and could have pushed harder earlier in the races. Getting to understand the style of racing and the characteristics of the Vesta and the way the tyres work will take a while but I enjoyed it”

The Japanese race wasn’t much luck for Nicky Catsburg, who had to retire to the pits. However, the Dutchman hopes for better results at the next Race of China.

Team Principle Victor Shapovalov was clearly delighted with his team’s performance and was full of praise for the efforts of the team and Huff: “Incredible driving and performance of the car after the work that we put in since the last race and here in Japan, a great result for the LADA SPORT ROSNEFT!”

The team now return to Russia before a turnaround back to the East and Shanghai F1 circuit for the WTCC ROSNEFT Race of China on 25th-27th September where the LADA SPORT ROSNEFT team hope to build on the results of today.