Münnich Motorsport pulls off strategic masterstroke for Guerrieri shock win
Esteban Guerrieri slashed Yann Ehrlacher’s championship lead with a sensational win from 16th on the grid in the opening race of the WTCR finale at MotorLand Aragón, as Münnich Motorsport rolled a strategic dice that payed off handsomely with a 1-2 win.
Guerrieri was handed the victory through a late call for team orders, with countryman Néstor Girolami – who had led the race from lap one – moving over just two corners from home.
The Honda duo came to the fore from lowly grid slots thanks to a masterful tyre choice from Münnich Motorsport, which opted to shod its four cars with slicks in the front and wets in the rear on a damp track.
That decision immediately payed dividends when Girolami starred on the opening lap, shooting from 11th on the grid to snatch the lead as the all-slick drivers tumbled down the order.
Guerrieri performed a similar charge in the opening stages, powering through from 16th to eventually take P2 from Nathanaël Berthon on lap three.
With the Argentine Honda duo lapping several seconds faster than their opponents out in front, and with title rivals Lynk & Co fading on slicks, the only threat to Münnich Motorsport became the potential of the track drying out late on.
That never fully occurred, however, and Girolami remained in a comfortable lead ahead of Guerrieri as the final lap began.
With Guerrieri in contention for the championship, however, the order was eventually swapped just two corners from the finish, after Girolami finally slowed to let his team-mate past.
Guerrieri’s unlikely win, for which he later thanked Girolami, moves the Argentinian from 31 to just 16 points off Ehrlacher in the title race.
Ehrlacher came home sixth, leading the Lynk & Co Cyan Racing charge ahead of uncle Yvan Muller while the team’s pole-sitter Santiago Urrutia slipped to ninth.
There was further disappointment for the Swedish squad after Thed Björk was sideswiped by Luca Filippi at the hairpin on lap four, spinning and finishing 11th. Filippi retired with damage.
Gilles Magnus led home team-mate Berthon in a Comtoyou Racing 3-4, the Belgian squad making use of the same strategy as Münnich Motorsport with slicks on the front and wets on the rear.
Mikel Azcona was the top full-slicks finisher in fifth, and also set the fastest lap of the race on the very final tour as the track slowly and lately began to dry.
Race 2 takes place at 13.15 CET, with Yvan Muller on reverse-grid pole.
