Ruben Volt dominates safety car interrupted first Imola race
Ruben Volt snatched the lead from pole sitter Matteo Poloni on the first lap and dominated the remainder of the first TCR Italy race of the weekend at Imola, claiming the points lead from Nicola Baldan.
The ALM Motorsport driver went side-by-side with Audi driver Poloni into the first corner and emerged in the lead at the exit of Turn 1.
The safety car headed out on track before the end of the first lap as Paolo Rocca and Pietro Alessi made contact and ended up stranded in the gravel trap.
The race resumed with 17 minutes left of the race, with Volt immediately pulling up a gap in his Honda.
A tough fight emerged for third place between Solite Indigo Racing driver Junesung Park (Hyundai), Jacopo Cimenes (Honda), Canadian driver Nicolas Taylor and Cupra driver Salvatore Tavano.
Park came out on top from the battle to claim the final podium position of the race, over ten seconds behind race winner Volt and six seconds behind Poloni who finished second.
Cimenes came home in fourth place ahead of Taylor, Tavano and former points leader Baldan.
Volt heads the standings on 204 points, with Baldan just two points behind and Tavano third on 199 points.
The second race of the weekend starts at 09:25 CEST.
