Girolami fights hard with Montenegro to claim Salzburgring Race 1 win

Franco Girolami won an entertaining first TCR Europe race of the weekend at a greasy Salzburgring, fighting hard for the lead with fellow front row starter Ignacio Montenegro.

Cupra driver Girolami got the best start ahead headed the field into the first chicane ahead of Honda driver Montenegro.

Disaster struck MA:GP driver Viktor Andersson, who started third, at Turn 1 as he was tagged into a slide by GOAT Racing driver Felipe Fernández, dropping him far down the order.

The track was drying up throughout the race and some drivers had opted for slicks, one of them being Lynk & Co driver Andersson who pitted for dry tyres following his first lap incident.

Sandro Soubek started on slicks but was caught out by the tricky conditions on lap three, spinning off into the barriers and brought the safety car out.

The race resumed two laps later, kicking off a tough fight for the lead.

Montenegro was able to snatch the lead from Girolami on lap ten, only for Girolami to reclaim it after several corners of side-by-side action, as both drivers sustained bodywork damage from the fight.

Girolami was able to stay ahead after that scrap, clinching the win close to two seconds ahead of Montenegro.

ALM Motorsport driver Ruben Volt made it two Hondas in the top three, with Aurélien Comte close behind in fourth.

Levente Losonczy (Honda) and Viktor Davidovski (Cupra) rounded off the top six while Andersson, who started on the second row, only managed eleventh following his lap one incident and subsequent pit stop.

The second race starts at 13:30 CEST with Giovanni Scamardi starting from the reversed grid pole position.