Race 2
The SEAT León cars took their revenge in a thrilling a very entertaining Race 2 today at Shanghai, with Andrea Belicchi conquering his maiden TCR win after an intense and beautiful fight with team mate Stefano Comini (signing a 1-2 for Target Competition) and yesterday’s winner Gianni Morbidelli, at the wheel of the WestCoast Racing Honda Civic. With a brilliant start, Comini took an early lead ahead of Belicchi, before both being passed by Morbidelli charging from the back in lap 6, not without a slight contact between the Italian and the Swiss, which Belicchi used to take the lead. It looked as ‘Morbido’ was on his way to a second triumph but his engine switched off briefly two laps later leaving him in fourth. The Honda could pass Oriola and also Comini, but two corners from the end, the Swiss regained second with a great move. It was a close and hardly-fought race at all levels of the ranking, with Oriola finishing fourth ahead of Nykjaer, Gleason and Engstler. In the championship, Morbidelli is leading by a mere 2-point advantage on Comini, with Belicchi third 13 points from the top.
Key moments
Start – Belicchi takes a good start from pole, while Comini and Oriola jump ahead of Nykjær
Lap 1 – Münnich skids and drops to the back; Comini overtakes Belicchi and takes the lead
Lap 2 – Morbidelli climbs to fourth passing Engstler and Nykjær
Lap 3 – Grachev and Tóth make contact while fighting for seventh, Grachev stops onto the gravel trap; Oriola overtakes Belicchi for second; Engstler overtakes Nykjær for fifth
Lap 4 – Belicchi retakes second from Oriola; Oriola loses third to Morbidelli
Lap 5 – Morbidelli overtakes Belicchi for second; Engstler drives wide at the last turn
Lap 6 – Morbidelli hits the back of Comini’s car and takes the lead; Comini drops to third; Veglia and Gleason have a close fight for eighth
Lap 7 – Nykjær overtakes Engstler for fifth
Lap 8 – Morbidelli slows down and drops to fourth behind Belicchi, Comini and Oriola
Lap 9 – Münnich hits Afanasyev sending him sideways and making also contact with Tóth, while Veglia secures eighth
Lap 10 – the fight between Morbidelli and Comini provide the last thrills: Morbidelli overtakes Comini who retakes the position with a great manoeuvre on the last-but-one turn.
Stefano Comini, second: “It hasn’t been an easy weekend for the SEAT cars, as we were clearly disadvantaged in the long straights, so it’s nice to end the weekend with a 1-2 win. In my case, I had also the extra-handicap of the 30-kg success ballast, which penalized me a lot in qualifying. But today’s race was a lot of fun, with a lot of fights, which is what I enjoy. The car was simply perfect.”
Race 1
WestCoast Racing took no prisoners in Race 1 at Shanghai, posting a sensational 1-2-3, thanks to the excellent speed of the Honda Civic cars on the long straights of the Chinese circuit.
Gianni Morbidelli added a first TCR win to his long string of successes in international touring cars, leading the race from lights to flag, closely followed by team-mate René Münnich. With this success and the pole position obtained earlier, the Italian is now leading in the Drivers’ standings, by 5 points.
Kevin Gleason came in third, completing the all-Civic podium, but the American had to battle hard to conquer his first TCR podium, swapping positions many times with previous championship leader Stefano Comini, who eventually took fourth and was the first of the SEAT cars. The Gleason vs Comini was not the only exciting duel of the race: Chinese fans could also enjoy close battle for fifth, as Mikhail Grachev’s Audi TT went under attack from Jordi Gené and later, Andrea Belicchi. The Russian, who put on a solid race, managed to keep the Spaniard at bay but was pipped by the Italian in the last corner.
Pepe Oriola had taken a great start and was running second, but was forced to retire at the end of lap 1 after suffering a puncture and body damage following a clash with Münnich.
Key moments Start – Morbidelli sprints from pole position; Oriola jumps to second ahead of Münnich Lap 1 – Oriola and Münnich make contact; the former slows down and retires Lap 2 – Comini and Gleason overtake Grachev for third and fourth Lap 3 – Gleason and Comini swap places twice Lap 4 – Gené overtakes Tóth for sixth Lap 6 – Belicchi overtakes Tóth for seventh Lap 7 – Comini and Gleason continue to swap places; Grachev and Gené collide, Gené loses a couple of positions Lap 8 – Engstler overtakes Gené for seventh Lap 9 – Gleason manages to keep Comini at bay for third; Belicchi chases Grachev Lap 10 – Belicchi passes Grachev for fifth at the last turn
The TCR International Series will resume for Rounds 5 & 6 at Valencia, Spain, on May 3rd.
Press release : TCR International Serie
Race 1
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