Attila Tassi wins from the title contenders at Assen

Attila Tassi became the eighth different race winner in the 2018 TCR Europe when he claimed his maiden victory in Assen’s Race 2. The young Hungarian and his Hell Energy Racing Honda Civic led for the whole distance and crossed the finishing line ahead of the title contenders Mikel Azcona (PCR Sport Cupra) and Dušan Borković (Target Competition Hyundai i30 N).
Because yesterday’s Race 1 winner M1RA’s Dániel Nagy retired due to a suspected engine failure, Borković and Azcona are on top of the standings, split by just two points: 134 to 132. However, Nagy is still in contention as he lies third, 20 points behind Borković; Tassi has moved up to fourth, with a gap of 39 points.
While Tassi and Azcona were able to pull away, Borković tried everything to steal third from a determined Stian Paulsen and eventually succeeded with a superb overtaking manoeuvre.
In the final part of the race, behind the leading trio, Paulsen, Maxime Potty, Kris Richard and Stefano Comini put in a great show as they swapped positions several times; eventually it was a charging Comini who was classified fourth, just like in yesterday’s Race 1, proving that he can now compete for a race victory in the Autodis Racing-THX Honda.
The penultimate event of TCR Europe will be at Monza on 22/23 September.

Key facts
Start – Paulsen makes good use of the pole on the top-ten reverse grid and takes the lead from Azcona and Tassi
Lap 1 – Paulsen runs wide and Tassi moves to second; Tassi overtakes Azcona for the lead; Borković, Richard and Potty follow the leading trio in fourth, fifth and sixth; Files retires after hitting a stack of tyres in a chicane
Lap 2 – Potty overtakes Richard for fifth
Lap 3 – Tassi pulls away as Paulsen chases Azcona; Nagy stops on the track with an engine issue and the safety car is deployed
Lap 6 – The race resumes with 11 minutes left; Borković threatens Paulsen’s third place
Lap 7 – Comini overtakes Richard for sixth; Paulsen, Borković and Potty fight for third
Lap 8 – Barr overtakes Kroes for tenth
Lap 9 – Azcona closes the gap from Tassi
Lap 10 – Paulsen successfully defends his third position from Borković as they run abreast in the last chicane
Lap 11 – Borković manages to overtake Paulsen for third
Lap 12 – Comini overtakes Potty for fifth
Lap 13 – Comini overtakes Paulsen for fourth; Potty runs wide and drops to seventh behind Richard and Vernay; Tassi wins from Azcona and Borković