The 2011 FIA WTCC Race of Belgium (formally the 2011 FIA WTCC Monroe Race of Belgium) was the second round of the 2011 World Touring Car Championship season. It was held at Circuit Zolder on 24 April 2011 and was the third running of the Race of Belgium, which ran at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in 2005 before leaving the calendar for four seasons until returning in the 2010 season at Zolder.

The races were won by Robert Huff of Chevrolet RML and Gabriele Tarquini of Lukoil-SUNRED.

Background After the Race of Brazil, Huff was leading the drivers' championship by four points over Chevrolet teammate Alain Menu. Kristian Poulsen was leading the Yokohama Independents' Trophy.

Chevrolet RML reverted to a three car operation having run guest driver Cacá Bueno in Brazil. bamboo–engineering switched to the Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T, replacing the Chevrolet Lacettis they ran in the opening round. Wiechers-Sport returned to the series with their new driver Urs Sonderegger in a BMW 320 TC. Norbert Michelisz and the Zengő-Dension Team returned with a turbocharged BMW having missed the opening round to test the new car.

Report

Testing and free practice The test session on Friday saw Tarquini go fastest, leading Menu and championship leader Huff.

Huff was quickest in the free practice session on Saturday morning with Yvan Muller second making it a Chevrolet 1–2.

Muller led Huff and Menu in the final free practice session with Michel Nykjær the fastest SEAT driver in fourth. Fabio Fabiani missed the breaking point for turn one during the session, he ended up rolling backwards into the car but continued.

Qualifying Chevrolet stayed on top in qualifying with Huff taking his second pole position of the year. Tiago Monteiro had been quickest in Q1 but Brazil podium finisher Tom Coronel failed to get through to the second session and lined up eleventh. Having been fourth in the afternoon practice session, Nykjær ended up 20th having not set a time. He had clipped one of the barriers at the chicane and was unable to continue in the session due to damage. Javier Villa didn't take part in qualifying due to engine issues.

In Q2, Huff set the fastest time to secure pole position and a late lap from Menu made it an all–Chevrolet front row. Tarquini finished third and Muller fourth, having run wide on his final flying lap. Monteiro was fifth and Poulsen in sixth was the leading independent driver. Michelisz was seventh in his first competitive session with the BMW.

Warm-Up Proteam Racing's Villa topped the Sunday morning warm–up session with pole sitter Huff third.

Race One The first race saw many drivers crash out and end their races prematurely. At the beginning Huff had a great get away from pole whilst Tarquini attempted to pass Menu put failed. Coronel had got a great get way but spun on the third lap and was hit by Franz Engstler. The damage was so much that Coronel wouldn't start race two. Meanwhile, further down the order, Aleksei Dudukalo and Yukinori Taniguchi were racing hard until Dudukalo put the Chevrolet into a small spin where Marchy Lee collected Taniguchi. Taniguchi managed to continue on in the race but Lee had to make a retirement. On lap eleven Poulsen and Michelisz were having a door to door battle, while Muller slipped past Tarquini for third. On the final lap Villa (who had started at the back of the grid) passed Darryl O'Young for ninth whilst Huff upfront took his second victory of the season.

Race Two In race two there were new complications with the grid as Fredy Barth who was set for pole position had too much damage to compete along with others. This meant a reshuffle of the grid putting Tarquini on pole. Tarquini kept the three Chevrolets behind him at bay for thirteen laps despite a battle with Huff on lap five where the two made contact that would send Huff down to sixth by the end of the race due to the damage from the collision. O'Young was working his way up the order from ninth and finished the race fourth after Muller started to suffer problems and retired. This left Menu to fight for the win with Tarquini but was not good enough and behind them Monteiro completed the podium positions.

Results

Qualifying Name Team Car Q1 Q2 1 2 Robert Huff Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 1:39.373 1:38.458 2 8 Alain Menu Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 1:39.367 1:38.598 3 3 Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil-SUNRED SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:39.493 1:38.723 4 1 Yvan Muller Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 1:39.365 1:38.738 5 18 Tiago Monteiro SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:38.952 1:38.907 6 11 Kristian Poulsen Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCY 1:39.293 1:39.398 7 5 Norbert Michelisz Zengő-Dension Team BMW 320 TCY 1:39.417 1:39.450 8 12 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCY 1:39.583 1:39.962 9 7 Fredy Barth SEAT Swiss Racing by SUNRED SEAT León 2.0 TDIY 1:39.638 1:40.015 10 25 Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TCY 1:39.328 1:40.438 11 15 Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 1:39.680 12 74 Pepe Oriola SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TDIY 1:39.780 13 30 Robert Dahlgren Polestar Racing Volvo C30 1:39.807 14 9 Darryl O'Young bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY 1:39.931 15 4 Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil-SUNRED SEAT León 2.0 TDIY 1:40.110 16 65 Marchy Lee DeTeam KK Motorsport BMW 320 TCY 1:40.406 17 10 Yukinori Taniguchi bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY 1:41.712 18 35 Urs Sonderegger Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TCY 1:43.537 19 21 Fabio Fabiani Proteam Racing BMW 320siY 1:44.820 20 17 Michel Nykjær SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TDIY no time set 21 20 Javier Villa Proteam Racing BMW 320 TCY no time set

Race 1 Name Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 2 Robert Huff Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 15 29:18.807 1 25 2 8 Alain Menu Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 15 +1.244 2 18 3 1 Yvan Muller Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 15 +1.740 4 15 4 3 Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil-SUNRED SEAT León 2.0 TDI 15 +3.790 3 12 5 18 Tiago Monteiro SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TDI 15 +5.102 5 10 6 11 Kristian Poulsen Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCY 15 +8.987 6 8 7 5 Norbert Michelisz Zengő-Dension Team BMW 320 TCY 15 +10.878 7 6 8 17 Michel Nykjær SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TDIY 15 +12.032 20 4 9 20 Javier Villa Proteam Racing BMW 320 TCY 15 +12.845 21 2 10 9 Darryl O'Young bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY 15 +12.901 14 1 11 74 Pepe Oriola SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TDIY 15 +14.656 12 12 4 Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil-SUNRED SEAT León 2.0 TDIY 15 +17.538 15 13 30 Robert Dahlgren Polestar Racing Volvo C30 15 +18.687 13 14 10 Yukinori Taniguchi bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY 15 +25.864 17 15 35 Urs Sonderegger Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TCY 15 +42.236 18 16 21 Fabio Fabiani Proteam Racing BMW 320siY 15 +1:07.741 19 Ret 7 Fredy Barth SEAT Swiss Racing by SUNRED SEAT León 2.0 TDIY 2 Race incident 9 Ret 15 Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 2 Race incident 11 Ret 25 Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TCY 2 Race incident 10 Ret 12 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCY 2 Race incident 8 Ret 65 Marchy Lee DeTeam KK Motorsport BMW 320 TCY 2 Race incident 16 Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Race 2 Name Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 3 Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil-SUNRED SEAT León 2.0 TDI 13 22:07.752 1 25 2 8 Alain Menu Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 13 +0.448 3 18 3 18 Tiago Monteiro SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TDI 13 +0.886 6 15 4 9 Darryl O'Young bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY 13 +1.614 9 12 5 17 Michel Nykjær SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TDIY 13 +5.702 13 10 6 2 Robert Huff Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 13 +5.901 2 8 7 30 Robert Dahlgren Polestar Racing Volvo C30 13 +12.352 8 6 8 5 Norbert Michelisz Zengő-Dension Team BMW 320 TCY 13 +16.721 16 4 9 4 Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil-SUNRED SEAT León 2.0 TDIY 13 +20.141 10 2 10 20 Javier Villa Proteam Racing BMW 320 TCY 13 +28.827 14 1 11 25 Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TCY 13 +42.066 15 12 12 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCY 13 +48.235 17 13 21 Fabio Fabiani Proteam Racing BMW 320siY 12 +1 Lap 12 14 74 Pepe Oriola SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TDIY 11 +2 Laps 7 15 35 Urs Sonderegger Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TCY 9 +4 Laps 11 Ret 1 Yvan Muller Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 7 Oil radiator 4 Ret 11 Kristian Poulsen Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCY 0 Race incident 5 DNS 15 Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 0 Did not start 18 DNS 7 Fredy Barth SEAT Swiss Racing by SUNRED SEAT León 2.0 TDIY 0 Did not start – DNS 65 Marchy Lee DeTeam KK Motorsport BMW 320 TCY 0 Did not start 19 DSQ 10 Yukinori Taniguchi bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY 12 Disqualified 20 Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Standings after the event

Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1 Robert Huff70 2 Alain Menu69 3 3 Gabriele Tarquini51 1 4 Yvan Muller48 3 5 Tiago Monteiro31

Yokohama Independents' Trophy standings Pos Driver Points 1 Kristian Poulsen 26 1 2 Javier Villa 23 2 3 Michel Nykjær 23 3 4 Darryl O'Young 19 3 5 Franz Engstler 19

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 156 1 2 SR Customer Racing 107 1 3 BMW Customer Racing Teams 85 4 Volvo Polestar Evaluation Team 28

Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of drivers' standings.

References

Results Booklet PDF at MST Systems

External links World Touring Car Championship official website