Ehrlacher and Guerrieri make a Honda 1-2
Münnich Motorsport’s Yann Ehrlacher and Esteban Guerrieri dominated the field in the first WTCR race at Hungaroring; they finished first and second giving Honda its first victory in the FIA World Cup.
Starting from fifth on the grid, Ehrlacher took advantage of the fight for the lead between pole sitter Norbert Michelisz and Guerrieri. The two of them made contact at Turn 2, opening a gap on the inside line that Ehrlacher was ready to use.
Guerrieri maintained the second position ahead of Yvan Muller and Michelisz, while Rob Huff overtook Gabriele Tarquini for fifth.
For the whole race, Muller did his best to defend the third place from Michelisz, which allowed the two Honda cars to pull away. Eventually, the Hungarian was able to pass Muller at Turn 1 on the penultimate lap and secured the last spot on the podium.
Huff and Tarquini remained in fifth and sixth, while guest driver Dániel Nagy finished a brilliant seventh, followed by Jean-Karl Vernay, Thed Björk and Benjamin Lessennes.
Fabrizio Giovanardi had climbed to 11th and was closing the gap from the drivers ahead when he pitted with a broken suspension three laps before the end.
In the standings, Tarquini leads with 72 points, from Ehrlacher (64) and Björk (55).
Action will resume tomorrow, with the second Qualifying at 10:00.
Picture: WTCR/DPPI
