Francisco Mora claims TCR Ibérico title at Portimão

Francisco Mora was crowned the 2019 champion for TCR Ibérico after the last couple of races at Portimão’s Autódromo Algarve.
After finishing fifth in Race 1 following a collision with Mattias Vahtel and momentarily losing the leadership in the standings to Vahtel’s teammate Robin Vaks, Mora found himself in the lead of the second race when this was red-flagged after four laps. With Vaks eliminated by an incident, the Veloso Motorsport driver secured the title.
In the first race, Vahtel took the lead from Mora and they had a close fight until making contact. Mora got the worst of it, spun and rejoined at the back. Vahtel kept on leading, as he was closely followed by Vaks; then on the final lap, Vahtel opened the door and handed victory to his teammate to give him the chance of fighting for the title in the final race.
Daniel Teixeira drove his SEAT DSG to complete the podium after surviving a collision with pole sitter Evgenii Leonov’s CUPRA on lap 4 that resulted in the Russian retiring with a broken suspension, while Gustavo Moura beat Mora to fourth place by a narrow margin.
The second race lasted only two competitive laps before the safety car was deployed because Joaquim Santos’ SEAT had caught fire following a collision with Manuel Silva’s CUPRA. The neutralization lasted two more laps and eventually the red flag was waved not to delay the start of the European Le Mans Series race.
Mora, who had been leading from the start resisting Vahtel’s pressure, was declared the winner, while Vaks had retired after a collision with another car during the safety car period, losing any chance to fight for the title until the very end.

Race 1
1. Robin Vaks (ALM Racing, Honda Civic FK7), 14 laps
2. Mattias Vahtel (ALM Racing, Honda Civic FK7), 1.960
3. Daniel Teixeira (Bompiso Racing Team, SEAT León DSG), 17.323

Race 2
1. Francisco Mora (Veloso Motorsport, CUPRA), 4 laps
2. Mattias Vahtel (ALM Racing, Honda Civic FK7), 0.903
3. Evgenii Leonov (Tecnicars Racing Team, CUPRA), 2.926

Championship points
1. Francisco Mora 112 pts; 2. Vaks 103; 3. Vahtel 90