Néstor Girolami heads Honda 1-2 at Most after first corner chaos

Néstor Girolami headed a Münnich Motorsport 1-2 in the first WTCR race of the weekend at Most, thus becoming the ninth different winner in nine races.

Local hero Petr Fulín had a disastrous start due to a clutch problem and was eliminated in the first corner chaos.

Norbert Michelisz went into the back of Yvan Muller who went into Fulín who spun and was collected by Comtoyou Racing driver Nathanaël Berthon.

Fulín and Berthon retired from the race as the safety car headed onto the track.

Girolami escaped the first corner chaos, as did his team-mate Esteban Guerrieri and points leader Yann Ehrlacher.

Guerrieri found himself in second place from ninth on the grid and Ehrlacher third from seventh on the grid.

Ehrlacher was close to Honda driver Guerrieri throughout the race but never close enough to seriously challenge for second place.

Positions four and five were occupied by Yvan Muller and Thed Björk, keeping a safe distance to each other during the race.

Jean-Karl Vernay was the top Hyundai driver in sixth position ahead of manufacturer colleague Norbert Michelisz in seventh.

Mikel Azcona, who will start Race 2 from pole, was close to Michelisz but unable to get past.

Azcona’s Zengo Motorsport team-mate Rob Huff meanwhile was able to get past Tom Coronel for ninth place.

Ehrlacher has extended his championship lead to 18 points over Lynk & Co colleague Santiago Urrutia who finished 12th from 14th on the grid.

The second race starts at 17:10 CEST.