[1] López continued to lead the drivers' championship after the first five rounds, forty–one points ahead of his teammates and defending champion Yvan Muller.

Citroën Total WTCC expanded to four cars for the Russian round with Chinese driver Ma Qing Hua joining the team.

[4] Muller was fastest in the first practice session, Gabriele Tarquini was second for the Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team and Tom Coronel was third in the ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet.

Valente ended the session tenth to claim pole position for race two with Ma Qing Hua sharing the front row.

On the first lap Muller began his recovery from a bad qualifying by taking Chilton for fifth place while his teammate Loeb moved up to third at the expense of Monteiro.

At the end of the second lap Borković tried a pass up the inside of Valente at the final corner and collided with the rear of his teammate, putting both drivers out of the race on the spot.

In the final laps of the race there were two battles developing in the top five; Loeb was pursuing Tarquini for second while Muller was chasing Chilton's fourth place.

Valente started on pole and Michelisz jumped up ahead of Ma, López failed to get away and was sat on the grid as the rest of the field disappeared around the first corner.

On lap 12 the second factory Honda of Monteiro slowed down with technical problems which moved René Münnich up into the final points place.

Bennani took the final podium place with Coronel fourth and Loeb took fifth from Michelisz with a tap on a rear of the Zengő Motorsport Honda at the last corner.