Guerrieri wins Race 1 and retakes points leadership
Esteban Guerrieri converted the pole position into his third victory of the season in WTCR Race 1 at Suzuka. This result meant that the Argentine retook the leadership in the championship standings with a 13-point margin over Norbert Michelisz, while Yvan Muller remained in third position with a gap of 27 points.
At the start, Guerrieri led the field into Turn 1, but during the first lap Niels Langeveld was able to overtake him; Guerrieri managed to keep Frédéric Vervisch at bay and at the beginning of lap 2 passed Langeveld at the end of the straight.
Behind the leading trio, Tiago Monteiro defended the fourth position from Thed Björk and Johan Kristoffersson.
On lap 8, Vervisch went wide at T1 and stopped with a flat front tyre. The safety car was deployed before he reached a safe place. When racing resumed, guest driver Ritomo Miyata dropped from seventh to 11th and then retired with a technical issue. This promoted by one place Gabriele Tarquini, Kevin Ceccon and Ma Qing Hua into seventh, eighth and ninth positions.
Despite the gaps were small, there were non further changes until lap 22, when Nicky Catsburg hit the back of Andy Priaulx’s car at the end of the straight and sent the Liynk&Co crashing into the tyre wall at Turn 1. The safety car was deployed again and circulated until the chequered flag, with Guerrieri the winner from Langeveld (who took his first WTCR podium) and Monteiro. Muller and Michelisz were classified in 11th and 13th positions respectively.
Races 2 and 3 are scheduled to start Sunday at 10:00 and 11:30 local time (02:00 and 03:30 CET).
Race 1
1. Esteban Guerrieri (Münnich Motorsport, Honda Civic FK7), 26 laps
2. Niels Langeveld (Comtoyou Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 0.460
3. Tiago Monteiro (KCMG, Honda Civic FK7), 1.602
4. Thed Björk (Cyan Racing, Lynk&Co 03), 1.991
5. Johan Kristoffersson (SLR, Volkswagen Golf GTI), 2.400
Championship points
1. Guerrieri 262 pts; 2. Michelisz 249; 3. Muller 235
