RACE 1 REPORT
FIA WTCR RACE OF
PORTUGAL
Vila Real, 22-24
June 2018
WTCR – FIA World
Touring Car Cup
MULLER
WINS DELAYED WTCR RACE OF PORTUGAL AFTER DRAMATIC START IN VILA REAL
*Touring car legend takes top spot and WTCR OSCARO title
lead
*Guerrieri
second as Oriola snatches third from Tarquini on final lap
*Multi-car
accident leads to several retirements
Yvan Muller emerged with an unlikely victory from Race 1
at WTCR Race of Portugal following a multi-car accident that caused a
stoppage of more than two hours in the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup
presented by OSCARO at Vila Real.
Muller’s YMR Hyundai i30 N TCR took the restart two hours and 15
minutes after the race had originally begun to lead all the way and win
from Esteban Guerrieri’s ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda Civic
Type R TCR.
But the main talking point was the accident on the first lap that
prevented seven cars from taking the restart and a number requiring
significant repair.
DHL Pole Position sitter Rob Huff and Mehdi Bennani led the bunched
pack up the hill at the start, but made contact which pitched both
Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI TCRs into a dramatic
accident. Huff and Bennani were both taken to hospital for
precautionary checks. Their heavy impacts with the barriers caused a
chain reaction through the closely following pack and put a number of
front-running cars out of the race.
Among them was Thed Björk’s YMR Hyundai, which briefly caught fire. The
Swede clambered out through the window of his car, while Yann Ehrlacher
scrabbled out of the back of his ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda.
The accident caused severe damage not only to a large number of cars,
but also to the barriers. But race organisers and circuit staff put in
remarkable work to repair the barriers and allow racing to resume.
The list of drivers that did not make the restart included the first
five on the grid: Huff, Bennani, Norbert Michelisz’s BRC Racing Team
Hyundai, Ehrlacher’s Honda and Björk’s Hyundai, plus John Filippi’s
Team OSCARO by Campos Racing Cupra TCR, James Thompson’s ALL-INKL.COM
Münnich Motorsport Honda.
That left Muller with the virtual pole for the safety car restart. The
French legend had got through the crash relatively unscathed only
thanks to a disastrous start that left him plummeting down the order
from his original P6 grid slot. That meant he missed the worst of the
accident at the front of the pack.
Muller made a clean getaway once the safety car peeled off, negotiated
the mandatory 'joker' lap and was never headed to claim not only the
victory, but also the WTCR points lead thanks to the misfortune of his
title rivals.
“It was a long race,” he said, referring to the lengthy delay between
the accident and the restart. “Okay, it’s a victory and I’ll take the
points, but it’s not really a victory. Rob was the fastest driver
today.”
There was further drama on the last lap when Gabriele Tarquini, running
third in his BRC Racing Team Hyundai, slowed suddenly on the approach
to the finish line. That allowed Pepe Oriola to claim the final podium
position as the top Vila Real rookie, while Tarquini clung on to finish
fourth.
Jean-Karl Vernay, who had started from the pitlane and thus also
avoided the damage, finished fifth in his Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil
Team Audi RS 3 LMS. He could have been fourth, only for Oriola to jump
him with a strong move as Vernay completed his joker.
Benjamin Lessennes was seventh in his Boutsen Ginion Racing Honda,
ahead of the Audis of Nathanaël Berthon, Gordon Shedden and Frédéric
Vervisch.
For the teams whose cars suffered severe damage, the race will now be
on to complete repairs overnight before qualifying on Sunday morning.
WTCR Race of Portugal resumes with Second Qualifying taking place at
09h00 local time. Race 2 is scheduled to start at 15h45, and Race 3 at
17h10.
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