Franco Girolami wins competitive race at Monza
PSS Racing Team’s Franco Girolami fended off title rival and Volcano Motorsport driver Mikel Azcona to score the victory in Race 1 of the TCR Europe weekend at Monza.
Honda driver Jack Young was slow off the blocks at the start, as Girolami took the lead from pole position followed by Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Felice Jelmini (Hyundai Elantra N TCR) and Young in third place.
Isidro Callejas, driving a Honda Civic Type-R TCR from Brutal Fish, clashed with Comtoyou Racing driver Nicolas Baert, with the Spaniard going wide at Lesmo and then spinning off the track.
Young went straight at Ascari, falling down the order and later retired to the pits.
Azcona was up to fifth place early on, overtaking Comtoyou Racing’s Tom Coronel for fourth place. However, Azcona would go straight at Roggia on lap two, falling behind Coronel again.
The pair then caught up with Dusan Borkovic (Audi RS 3 LMS), with the Serbian driver defending at Ascari and again at Turn 1 on lap three.
Coronel overtook Borkovic, with Azcona taking to the inside the Serbian. Peugeot 308TCR driver Jimmy Clairet got involved as well, going on the outside of Borkovic, with the three drivers going side-by-side through Curva Grande.
Azcona was able to overtake Borkovic for fourth place on lap four.
Jáchym Galás of Jánik Motorsport took a wild stab at Callejas at Turn 1 on lap four, crashing into the Spaniard, with both retiring from the race with substantial damage. The incident cause double yellow flags to be waved at Turn 1, rendering overtaking impossible at that location.
Azcona overtook Coronel for third place at Turn 1 on lap seven as Borkovic lost out to Clairet, Sami Taoufik and Mat’o Homola.
Hyundai driver Felice Jelmini suffered a tyre failure on lap eight at Roggia, with the Italian parking his Elantra at the side of the track.
Taoufik took Clairet’s inside at Turn 1 on lap nine, with the Frenchman holding the outside at Curva Grande. However, the yellow flags at Roggia prevented him from completing the overtake.
Girolami went wide exiting Ascari on lap nine, with Azcona coming right under his rear bumper. The Argentinian defended at Turn 1 on lap ten, with Azcona taking the inside at Curva Grande.
It wouldn’t be enough though as Girolami staying ahead at Roggia. Azcona kept close, trying the outside at Parabolica, but wouldn’t be enough to get ahead.
At the chequered flag, Girolami took the victory ahead of Azcona and Coronel. Taoufik went wide at Ascari on the last lap, losing fourth place to Clairet but still managed to finish in fifth place despite suffering a last moment puncture.
Homola was sixth, ahead of Borkovic and Baert. PSS Racing Team’s Viktor Davidovski finished ninth, with Niels Langeveld, driving a Hyundai Elantra N TCR from Sébastien Loeb Racing, completing the top ten.
“It was amazing,” said Girolami after the race. “I pushed as fast as I could but Azcona has a lot of power. The championship stays alive, so let’s see what happens tomorrow.”
Azcona is still on top of the championship with 355 points, 26 ahead of Girolami, with Langeveld a distant third on 239 points.
Race 2 is scheduled for 13:30 CEST on Sunday afternoon.
