Kris Richard stripped of Spa Race 2 win for contact with Julien Briché

Kris Richard was stripped of his maiden win in TCR Europe at Spa-Francorchamps, as the stewards deemed him responsible for the last-lap contact between his Hyundai i30 N TCR and Julien Briché’s Peugeot 308TCR.

The two tangled at Les Combes, as the French driver tried to complete an overtaking move he had almost completed on the Kemmel straight. There was a gentle touch, but it upset the balance of the Peugeot, which lost rear-end stability and forced the driver to cut the chicane at high speed.

After that the Frenchman admitted he was suffering from vibration all through the last lap, and wasn’t able to close the gap to have another go at the Swiss, who described the incident to TouringCarTimes.

“Of course I didn’t mean to touch him. He passed me on the straight, we were so close and he moved just a tiny bit, but enough for my nose to give his back a soft tap, which sent the rear of his car all over the place. I’ve spoken to him and made it clear I had no intention to touch him. Honestly, I would have been happy enough with second, my goal was the podium. I think it’s just normal racing.”

Briché’s view was that the Hyundai driver had just outbraked himself a little, which had caused the two to make contact.

The penalty means the first TCR Europe win of the season for a Peugeot.