Santiago Urrutia wins action packed race at Vila Real
Cyan Racing’s Santiago Urrutia claimed victory in Sunday’s opening WTCR race at Vila Real, ahead of team-mate Yann Ehrlacher, who received team orders to let the Uruguayan through.
At the start Urrutia took the lead from pole position, with Ehrlacher sitting in second place and Münnich Motorsport’s Néstor Girolami in third.
Further back, Cyan Racing’s Yvan Muller suffered a puncture after Comtoyou Racing’s Gilles Magnus tried to overtake on the outside, with both cars coming together and retiring to the pits.
The leaders opened a gap, with Girolami falling into the grips of Cyan Racing’s Ma Qing Hua. The Joker Lap was open on lap three, with Urrutia taking his turn a lap later and losing the race lead to Ehrlacher
Ma lost some ground to Girolami, losing fourth place to Comtoyou Racing’s Mehdi Bennani and falling into the grips of BRC Motorsport’s Mikel Azcona (Hyundai Elantra N TCR), already up to sixth place.
Ehrlacher took his Joker on lap five, keeping the lead ahead of Urrutia. Bennani did so, falling behind Hyundai’s Norbert Michelisz. Girolami and Azcona took their Joker on lap six, with the Spaniard now under attack from Cyan Racing’s Thed Björk, who tried the inside, colliding with the Hyundai to overtake for eighth place. The stewards would investigate the incident after the race.
The leaders stretched a gap at the front and with all the frontrunners having completed their Joker Lap, Michelisz was now in fourth place and under attack from Ma, with Zengo Motorsport’s Rob Huff (Cupra Leon Competición) in sixth place.
Ehrlacher received team orders to give the position back to Urrutia on lap eight. The Uruguayan closed the gap to his team-mate and overtook for the lead on lap eleven.
Further back, Bennani received a track limits warning on lap nine, as the Moroccan was trying to defend from Björk. The Audi driver went deep into the chicane, with Björk slowing down and Azcona trying to take advantage on the outside, but losing to the Team Engstler Hondas of Tiago Monteiro and Attila Tassi, with the Hungarian receiving a five-second time penalty for a track limits infringement.
Björk slowed down after a contact with Bennani, with Tassi making the most and climbing up to eighth place. Monteiro also lost out trying to avoid the Swede, with Azcona overtaking the local hero.
Urrutia led the final stages of the race with Ehrlacher right behind and a five-second gap over Girolami, who was fending off the attacks from Michelisz, Ma and Huff.
Urrutia won at the chequered flag, with Ehrlacher and Girolami completing the podium. Michelisz was fourth, followed by Ma, Huff, Tassi, Bennani, Azcona and Comtoyou Racing’s Nathanaël Berthon completing the top ten. Tassi however dropped to ninth place with his penalty, with the drivers behind promoted one place.
After Race 1 at Vila Real, Azcona leads the championship with 137 points, with Urrutia six points behind and Ehrlacher 12 points adrift.
The WTCR Race 2 at Vila Real is scheduled for 17:15 WEST (CEST -1 hour).
