Eric Gené claims maiden TCR Spain win in soaked second Barcelona race
Monlau Motorsport’s Eric Gené made the most of the wet conditions in Barcelona to perform a defensive drive and score his first-ever victory in Sunday’s Race 2 of the TCR Spain opener.
It rained on Sunday afternoon over Barcelona, with the TCR Spain field facing a wet track. Team Clairet Sport’s Guillaume Salvodelli (Audi) started from the reverse grid pole position, alongside SP Compétition’s Giovanni Scamardi (Cupra).
Rene Povlsen (Honda) took the lead from the second row of the grid at the start, closely followed by his team-mate Mike Halder.
The German tried to overtake for the race lead, with Monlau Motorsport’s Jenson Brickley (Cupra) instead taking the lead. Halder continued pressing, going side-by-side with Brickley and making contact in the process, with both cars retiring from the race.
Gené took the lead ahead of Scamardi and Michael Markussen (Honda), as the safety car was called into action.
Gené’s team-mate Erik Zabala had recovered to fourth place, just ahead of Auto Club RC2 Vallés’ Rubén Fernández (Honda), with Povlsen losing out in the first lap tangle and dropped to sixth place.
The race finally went green on lap six.
Markussen and Scamardi came side-by-side at Turn 12, with the Danish driver overtaking for second place.
However, the safety car was called into action again as ALM Motorsport’s Sten-Dorian Piirimägi (Honda) spun off the track and was stuck in the gravel trap after a contact with Rubén Fernández.
The race was relaunched on lap nine, with Gené defending the lead from Markussen.
The Danish was all over Gené’s back, who made his best efforts to shut the door.
Felipe Fernández (Honda) recovered ground from the back, climbing up to third place ahead of Scamardi and ALM Motorsport’s Rubén Volt (Honda) who also started from the back.
Markussen sought Gené’s inside at Turn 4 on the last lap, with the duo making contact but managed to stay on the track and with the Spaniard staying ahead.
Gené claimed his maiden victory in the TCR Spain at the chequered flag, with Markussen and Felipe Fernández completing the podium.
Rubén Fernández was fourth, ahead of Volt and Scamardi, with Zabala in seventh place. Povlsen followed suit, with Team Clairet Sport’s Sebastien Thome (Audi RS 3 LMS) in ninth place. Auto Club RC2 Vallés’ Víctor Fernández (Honda Civic FL5 TCR) completed the top ten.
“It was a very difficult race to manage, but we did great starting from P10,” said Gené after the race. “We managed the safety car to not damage the tyres. He (Markussen) tried to push me off, but we managed to keep it on the track and stay ahead.
“This win means a lot to do it here with my family and my friends, we couldn’t manage it last year but we did it now.”
Gené leads the TCR Spain standings after the first round with 85 points, 21 ahead of Markussen and 31 over Volt.
The next round of the TCR Spain takes place at Motorland Aragón on the 28-30th of March.
