On only his second appearance in the TCR Italy at the wheel of the Otto Motorsport Alfa Romeo Giulietta, Edoardo Cappello achieved an authoritative victory in Mugello’s Race 2 beating the reigning champion Nicola Baldan.
His fellow Alfa Romeo driver Luigi Ferrara finished out of the points and lost the leadership in the championship to Salvatore Tavano who was classified third.
Federico Paolino took the lead from the pole on the reverse grid, but the race was disrupted by the safety car to recover Cesar Machado’s Honda that was stranded in the gravel after a contact with Eric Scalvini’s Hyundai.
At the restart on lap 4, Cappello overtook Paolino at T1 and pulled away; soon afterwards, Paolino was passed by Baldan, Matteo Greco and Salvatore Tavano who began to chase the leader.
On lap 6 Baldan managed to overtake Greco for second and began closing in on Cappello; one lap later Greco handed the third position to his teammate Tavano.
The final laps were thrilling, with Cappello e Baldan driving abreast for most of the time until the Alfa Romeo took the chequered flag only two tenths ahead of the Hyundai.
Tavano has moved on top of the standings, 7.5 points clear of Ferrara, and 18 over Greco.
TCR Italy will resume in two-week time at Imola.