Volpato and De Matteo win for Élite Motorsport at Misano

Gabriele Volpato and Alfredo De Matteo shared one of the Élite Motorsport-run Volkswagen Golf GTI cars to win the second round of the TCR DSG Europe series in Misano.
The 2-hour race began with drama, as a puncture forced the pole-sitting Tecnodom Sport Audi RS 3 LMS of Jonathan Giacon to a pit stop that cost two laps to the winning team of the season opener at Monza.
During the early stages, De Matteo fought for the lead with his teammate Marco Butti and Simone Patrinicola’s HC Racing Audi; the latter retired at mid distance with a broken suspension.     
The second part of the race was enlivened by the recovery of the Tecnodom Audi that Jonathan Giacon handed to his younger brother Steven after a stint of more than one hour. Benefiting from a sudden shower and a safety car intervention following the incident that eliminated Paolo Palanti’s CUPRA with 30 minutes left on the clock, Steven Giacon moved into the second place and reduced the gap from the leaders to less than 14 seconds under the flag. The BF Motorsport Audi of Samuele Piccin and Romy Dall’Antonia completed the podium, repeating their result from Monza.
In the standings, Jonathan and Kevin Giacon lead, 15 points clear of Dall’Antonia-Piccin.
The third round of the TCR DSG Europe will be run on 18/19 September at Grobnik.

2H Misano – Race
1. A. De Matteo/G. Volpato (Élite Motorsport, Volkswagen Golf GTI DSG), 62 laps
2. J. Giacon/S. Giacon (Tecnodom Sport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 13.820
3. R. Dall’Antonia/S. Piccin (BF Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 24.277

Championship points
1. J. Giacon/S. Giacon, 75 pts; 2. R. Dall’Antonia/S. Piccin, 60; 3. Butti/Peroni 48

Picture: Stefano Ferraresi