Aurélien Comte has won the second race of the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour in Monza, powering through from eighth on the grid to claim the first victory for him, for the SP Compétition team and for CUPRA, which made four different winning manufacturers in the season so far.
Néstor Girolami led the way into the first corner from the reversed grid pole, while alongside him Ignacio Montenegro ran too deep and cut the first corner; Thed Björk cut the inside of the corner as well to move ahead of Girolami. Montenegro rejoined ahead of both of them, then him and Björk gave back the positions, allowing Girolami back into the lead.
The safety car was out at the start of lap 2, as the CUPRA of John Filippi was spun into the gravel pushed by another car. When the race restarted, Comte blasted past Montenegro for third down the inside of the Parabolica and then joined the top two battle. Norbert Michelisz also passed the Montenegro for fifth at Prima Variante.
Comte was now battling Björk for second, going around the outside into the Prima Variante at the start of lap 7, before completing the pass on the way through Curva Grande to move into second. Two laps later, Comte took the lead, getting a good exit from the first corner and powering past Girolami at Curva Grande.
Girolami was left to defend hard against Björk and Michelisz all the way to the finish but managed to hold on to second. Comte won the race by 1.5 seconds over Girolami, with Bjork completing the podium.
Esteban Guerrieri made good progress again to move from P14 on the grid to seventh, and with Yann Ehrlacher finishing two positions behind him in ninth, closes to 16 points in the standings that are still led by the French driver. Santiago Urrutia remains third, 11 points behind Girolami.
The next event takes place at the Circuito de Vila Real in Portugal in two weeks.
Race 2
- Aurélien Comte (SP Compétition, CUPRA Leon VZ), 12 laps
- Néstor Girolami (BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse, Hyundai Elantra N), 1.446
- Thed Björk (Lynk & Co Cyan Racing, Lynk & Co 03 FL), 1.891
Championship points
- Y. Ehrlacher, 193 pts; 2. E. Guerrieri, 177; 3. S. Urrutia, 166
Picture: WSC/Fastclick