At Mugello, Comte and Jelmini share honours in TCR Italy

SP Compétition’s Aurélien Comte and PMA Motorsport’s Felice Jelmini shared race wins in TCR Italy’s Rounds 5 and 6 at Mugello. Comte had been the first to take the chequered flag in both races, but he was demoted by a penalty and so Jelmini inherited the victory. As the other title contenders hit troubles, the Jelmini and Comte advanced to second and third in the standings, five and six points behind Franco Girolami, while Niels Langeveld and Marco Butti – who were also penalised – dropped to fourth and fifth, with gaps of 22 and 39 points.

Race 1 – Butti had claimed his third consecutive pole with a lap of 1:56.634, beating Langeveld by one tenth, while Comte and Sergio López filled the second row of the grid. Butti sprinted at the start to take the lead, with Comte and López jumping ahead of Langeveld. The Dutchman passed López for P3 in lap 1, while Girolami who was eighth on the grid advanced to fourth with a great start. Also in the opening lap, Cesare Brusa’s Hyundai Elantra went off after contact with Felipe Fernández’s Audi and the safety car was deployed, while Michele Imberti’s Hyundai i30 N pulled up with a transmission failure.

As the race resumed in lap 5, Comte muscled his way past Butti to take the lead; Butti lost another place to Langeveld but kept behind Girolami and López who was then passed by Felice Jelmini. Up front, Comte tried to pull away from Langeveld, while Butti was notified a 10-second penalty for jump-start.

In lap 7, the safety car returned into action after Sandro Pelatti’s Audi and Giovanni Scamardi’s Hyundai remained stranded in the gravel after colliding. At the restart in lap 10, López’s Audi suffered from a broken suspension and stopped at the entrance of the pit lane, forcing the safety car back on track until the chequered flag was waved. Comte took his maiden win from Langeveld and Butti who was demoted to 20th, while Girolami, Jelmini and Ruben Volt were promoted to third, fourth and fifth respectively. Ali Vedat Dalokay won the DSG class in his Bitci Racing Audi.

Race 2 – Junui Park’s Hyundai and Rubén Fernández’s Audi shared the front row of the reversed grid; it was the Spaniard who led the field at the start, ahead of Comte who sprinted from P6 on the grid. In lap 1, Park was passed by Jelmini and Girolami, but an incident between Imberti’’s Hyundai i30 N and Raffaele Gurrieri’s CUPRA Leon Competición prompted the safety car on track. At the restart in lap 5, Fernández defended the lead from Comte and Jelmini, while Volt passed Langeveld for P7 and López pulled up with a technical problem from P6; then Rodolfo Massaro crashed, and the safety car was deployed once again. 

The next restart took place in lap 9, with Junui Park suddenly slowing down and causing commotion in the middle of the pack; Langeveld seized the opportunity to jump ahead of Volt and Butti moving into P5. Up front, Comte stole the lead from Fernández, who also lost second to Jelmini; behind the leading trio, Langeveld and Girolami clashed while fighting for P4 and were passed by Volt and Butti. During the last lap, Langeveld punted Girolami into a spin, while Comte took his second win from Jelmini, Fernández, Volt, Butti and Langeveld. However, Comte was dropped to third by a 5-second penalty for track limits; other penalties dropped Butti (10 seconds for another jump-start) to 10th and Langeveld (25 seconds for track limits and the incident with Girolami) to 25th.

In the DSG class, Luigi Gallo took his maiden win with a RC Motorsport Audi.

The championship will resume at Monza, on September 15/17.

Mugello – Race 1

1. Aurélien Comte (SP Compétition, CUPRA Leon Competición), 12 laps

2. Niels Langeveld (MM Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 11.723

3. Franco Girolami (Aikoa Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS II), 12.478

Mugello – Race 2

1. Felice Jelmini (PMA Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS II), 12 laps

2. Rubén Fernández (RC2 Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS II), 2.778

3. Aurélien Comte (SP Compétition, CUPRA Leon Competición), 4.604

Championship points

1. F. Girolami, 197 pts; 2. F. Jelmini, 192; 3. A. Comte, 191

Picture: ACI Sport