After the previous round in Belgium, Huff was leading the drivers' championship by one point over Chevrolet team mate Alain Menu.

Turkish driver Ibrahim Okyay returned to championship driving a Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport run naturally aspirated BMW 320si, having last competed in the 2008 season.

[1] Yvan Muller set the pace in Thursday's opening test session, beating the BMWs of Poulsen and Tom Coronel.

[2] Huff topped the opening free practice session on Saturday morning, a tenth quicker than the SEAT of Gabriele Tarquini.

Marchy Lee lost control of his DeTeam KK Motorsport BMW 320 TC at Lesmo and collided with the barriers, while Mehdi Bennani spun himself into the gravel at the same corner.

A gap left by Muller towards the end of the first lap allowed Menu to take second place and the Swiss driver then set about catching the leader.

Huff and Muller made it a Chevrolet 1–2 for both races and Poulsen took third and his first podium finish in the WTCC, Coronel had been in contention for the position until he slowed with a delaminated tyre.