Viktor Andersson scored his first victory in the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour in the second race at Inje, leading from the reversed grid and fighting to hold back the Geely Preface of Ma Qing Hua to become the first wild card driver to win a race this season.
Andersson launched into the lead from pole position, while he was under pressure from Ma and his own SP Compétition teammate Jean-Karl Vernay throughout the first few corners.
Vernay briefly got his nose ahead of Ma into Turn 5, before Ma was able to retake the position into Turn 7, before Vernay then hit Ma at Turn 12 and knocked the Chinese driver into a half-slide. Ma was able to recover and hold the position, but Vernay lost momentum and was quickly passed by the pursuing cars of Junesung Park and Aurélien Comte.
There was also drama on the first lap for reigning champion Yann Ehrlacher, whose Geely was squeezed at the start and made contact with Park’s Hyundai. Park continued with slightly bent steering, while Ehrlacher’s car was terminally damaged and he pulled off at Turn 6 to record his third DNF of the season.
Comte’s race would last only until lap seven, when the French driver slowed out of fifth place with an electrical issue.
At half-distance, former points leader Santiago Urrutia started to lose ground due to a power steering failure. He was quickly passed by the chasing BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Elantras of Mikel Azcona and Norbert Michelisz, before falling further down the order. The Uruguayan held on until he eventually dropped a lap down and to 16th place and out of the points-paying positions.
The battle for the lead was intense throughout the race, with Andersson under constant pressure from Ma right until the final lap. The Swedish driver resisted the pressure to score his first career victory in the series, following on from his podium in July this year in Race 2 at Vila Real.
Junesung Park followed up his ETS Guest Star Trophy victory yesterday with his first career podium with third place overall.
Andersson was also the ETS Guest Star Trophy winner, and becomes the first driver in the category to win a race outright.
In the TCR Asia field, Diego Moran notched up his second consecutive victory of the season, and also a career-best finish in the TCR World Tour with ninth in his ATE Racing by DM23 Honda.
The two BRC Hyundais swapped positions on the final lap for sixth place which helped Michelisz move up to joint-second in the championship standings, 33 points behind Azcona who extends his lead after Urrutia’s retirement.
The final race of the day is scheduled for 16:30 local time (09:30 CEST), with Azcona set to start on pole position ahead of Thed Björk.
Race 2
1. Viktor Andersson (SP Compétition, CUPRA Leon VZ), 19 laps
2. Ma Qing Hua (Geely Cyan Racing, Geely Preface), 1.170
3. Junesung Park (Solite Indigo Racing, Hyundai Elantra N), 6.428
ETS Guest Star Trophy: Viktor Andersson (SP Compétition, CUPRA Leon VZ)
Championship points
1. M. Azcona, 279 pts.; 2. S. Urrutia, 246; 3. N. Michelisz, 246
Picture: WSC/Paddocker
