Attila Tassi holds off Hyundai trio to take his first win at Estoril
Münnich Motorsport driver Attila Tassi has taken his first WTCR victory in a frenetic second race at Estoril, while trouble befell both of his Honda teammates Esteban Guerrieri and Tiago Monteiro, with the latter forced to relinquish his lead.
Guerrieri and Monteiro lined up on the front row, with Jean-Karl Vernay promoted to third on the grid in his Engstler Motorsport Hyundai following the demotion of Néstor Girolami to the back of the grid with his Honda requiring repairs between races.
Guerrieri however had a problem at the start and didn’t get away when the lights went out, with Monteiro straight into the lead with Tassi up to second ahead of Vernay, who was forced to go around Guerrieri’s slow-starting Honda Civic and wasn’t at full speed on the way into Turn 1.
The safety car was soon called after an incident involving the Zengő Motorsport CUPRA of Mikel Azcona and the Comtoyou Racing Audi RS 3 LMS of Tom Coronel, with the Dutchman’s car crashing out into the barriers.
The race resumed on lap three with Monteiro in the lead ahead of Tassi and Vernay, while behind them was the Lynk & Co of Santiago Urrutia. The Uruguayan would soon lose two spots to the Hyundai Elantra cars of Norbert Michelisz and Gabriele Tarquini, with Urrutia left to defend his position against his Cyan Racing teammate Yann Ehrlacher during the closing stages of the race.
There was drama up front as on lap ten the right-side bonnet catch on Monteiro’s Civic came loose, with the Portuguese driver quickly handed a mechanical black flag and ordered into the pit lane to repair it.
This handed Tassi the lead, meanwhile, their teammate Guerrieri was on a recovery drive. After falling down to 13th, he worked his way back to finish eighth, forcing his way past Rob Huff and Yvan Muller on lap 11.
During the final laps of the race, Tassi came under intense pressure from the phalanx of Elantra cars led by Vernay but held on to take his first career win by just over a second ahead of Vernay.
The second place put the Frenchman back in the lead of the championship standings, five points clear of Tassi, Muller, and Urrutia, with Monteiro dropping to fifth, nine points back, on equal points with Guerrieri.
The next round of WTCR takes place at the MotorLand Aragón circuit on July 9th-11th, alongside the PURE ETCR series.
Estoril – Race 2
1. Attila Tassi (Münnich Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 16 laps
2. Jean-Karl Vernay (Team Engstler, Hyundai Elantra N), 1.030
3. Norbert Michelisz (BRC Squadra Corse, Hyundai Elantra N), 1.553
4. Gabriele Tarquini (BRC Squadra Corse, Hyundai Elantra N), 2.165
5. Santiago Urrutia (Cyan Performance, Lynk & Co 03), 7.814
Championship points
1. JK. Vernay 61 pts; 2. A. Tassi 56; 3. Y. Muller 56
Picture: WTCR/DPPI
