On a warm afternoon, the Hungaroring produced another lively race, which was won by Francisco Mora, at the wheel of the M1RA Hyundai i30 N. This was the maiden win for the Portuguese driver and M1RA, with Dániel Nagy providing the icing on the cake by securing a 1-2 finish for the Hungarian team.
Mora made a perfect use of the pole position on the reversed grid, having to fight in the early stages with the Peugeot 308 cars of his fellow countryman Francisco Abreu and Julien Briché; then he managed to maintain a safe leading gap ahead of local hero Nagy in the closing lap.
Josh Files emerged from the tough battle to take the third spot on the podium, ahead of his teammate Attila Tassi, while Abreu was classified fifth – his best result so far – as he was able to keep at bay Reece Barr and Kris Richard.
The remaining points positions were filled by Stefano Comini – who recovered again from 22nd on the grid – series returnee Ferenc Ficza and Stian Paulsen.
In a race that saw both Mikel Azcona and Dušan Borković – first and second in the standings – out of the points, Nagy has closed the gap and is now a closer third, 25 points behind Azcona and 24 from Borković.
The TCR Europe series will resume at Assen TT Circuit on August 18/19.
Key facts Start – Mora sprints from the pole, Abreu overtakes Briché for second on the outside at T1 Lap 1 – Abreu overtakes Mora at T3 and takes the lead; Briché, Nagy, Files and Borković follow Lap 2 – Files, Borković, Tassi are in a close fight for fifth; Vernay and Kroes make contact Lap 3 – Mora closes in on Abreu; Briché defends third place from Nagy; Borković bumps into the back of Files’ car and retires; Tassi moves up to fifth ahead of Files Lap 4 – Nagy overtakes Briché for third Lap 5 – Tassi overtakes Briché for fourth; Files tries to pass Briché as well and sends him sideways Lap 6 – Mora steals the lead from Abreu; Briché and Vernay are given a drive-through for track limit infringements Lap 7 – Abreu runs wide and drops to third behind Nagy Lap 8 – Files overtakes Tassi for fourth; Azcona is given a drive-through for track limits Lap 9 – Files overtakes Abreu for third; Davidovski is given a drive-through for track limits Lap 10 – Abreu and Tassi make contact while fighting for fourth; Møller is given a drive-through for track limits Lap 11 – Abreu runs wide at T1 and drops behind Tassi Lap 12 – Kroes is given a drive-through for track limits Lap 13 – Mora keeps the advantage and wins ahead of Nagy, Files, Tassi, Abreu, Barr, Richard, Comini (winner of TCR Benelux), Ficza (winner of the DSG Trophy) and Paulsen
Quotes from the second race podium
Francisco Mora (1st): « Obviously, I’m very happy. I knew I had the chance but I also knew that the other cars would be fast. Yesterday I was fast but couldn’t finish the race because of a small problem so I was under a lot of pressure to start from the front row. I made a good start and defended from Briché, but then I got passed by Abreu and we pulled away from the rest. I overtook him in a fair fight and after that I knew I could do it. The team did a fantastic job and it was amazing that we finished 1-2. Dániel and I are good teammates, we learn from each other and it’s very motivating for me. »
Dániel Nagy (2nd): « I thank the M1RA team; this was an important race, not just for me but for the whole team. We are all Hungarians and so I am so very happy for them to see two cars finishing first and second. It was one of the hardest races of my career. In the first part of the race when we were fighting with the Peugeot it was really tough. The Peugeot cars were very quick on the straight but they weren’t so good in braking. It was tough to see a good chance but not damage the car when overtaking them. I’m very happy for ‘Cico’ my teammate Francisco because he deserved the victory. »
Josh Files (3rd): « We had good performance and a strong car throughout the race. I had a good start, but then I got hit from behind. I don’t know if Borković out-braked himself or something, but he hit me really hard in the back and I lost a few places to Attila and Abreu. I took advantage when they were all fighting and got into third and then drove off. That was good but we couldn’t catch the M1RA cars. I decided after a lap or so to concentrate on keeping third which was a good result for us. It was a decent reward for the team after the season we’ve had so far so I’m more than happy with that. »
Dávid Bari (Team Manager, M1RA Racing): « This is just amazing; to win in front of our home crowd, in front of our families and in front of our supporters and sponsors. I’m so proud, because all the guys worked incredibly hard, not just before this weekend. It’s a really good feeling and I’m so proud of both of the drivers because they made no mistakes during the race and they did exactly what we discussed. They were quick, they were sharp and they were good. Thanks to them and thanks to the entire team. »
Borković and Files get grid penalty for next race
Both Dušan Borković and Josh Files will be dropped by three positions on the starting grid for the first race of TCR Europe’s next event at Assen. The Target Competition driver was penalised for bumping into the back of Josh Files’ car during today’s second race at the Hungaroring. Files was given a similar penalty for pushing wide Julien Briché during the very same race and overtaking him.
Press release TCR
]]>
