Jonathan Giacon wins incident packed opening race in Monza

TCR Italy’s returnee Jonathan Giacon took victory in the opening race at Monza, finishing just 0.369 of a second ahead of Felice Jelmini. Salvatore Tavano crossed the line in third place, but an incident involving him earlier in the race will be investigated by the Stewards after the race.
Pole-sitter Eric Brigliadori was beaten to Turn 1 by Jacopo Guidetti, whose Honda had started the race alongside the Audi on the front row of the grid. Several contacts at the first chicane saw both Ettore Carminati and Simone Pellegrinelli forced to pit for repairs, while Michele Imberti wasn’t so fortunate, and the safety car had to be deployed while the car was recovered. Just before the safety car came out, Marco Pellegrini went off into the barriers at the Ascari chicane but was also able to limp back to the pits.
When racing resumed on Lap 4, three cars ran side-by-side down to the first chicane with Giacon emerging as the new race leader. Alessandro Giardelli half-spun at the chicane but continued, while Guidetti dropped to fifth place. There was worse to come for the former race leader, as contact with Tavano coming out of the Curva Grande saw the Honda impact the barriers heavily. This brought out the safety car for the second time, with Giacon leading from Brigliadori and Igor Stefanovski.
Racing resumed again on Lap 7 with a little over eight minutes of the twenty-five minute race remaining. Brigliadori dropped to fourth, allowing Jelmini to move up two places into second position, although Brigliadori quickly passed Stefanovski to move into P3. On the following lap, Damiano Reduzzi passed Tavano for fifth at the exit to the second Lesmo corner, but Reduzzi then ran wide at the Parabolica and dropped two places.
The final four laps then delivered yet more drama. Jelmini began attacking Giacon for the lead on Lap 9, while Francesca Raffaele took to the grass at the first chicane and dropped from tenth to fourteenth as a result. On the next lap, Brigliadori passed Jelmini for P2 at the Prima Variante, but failed in a brave bid to take the lead by going up the inside of Giacon at the Parabolica. Brigliadori and Stefanovski then made contact at the chicane on the penultimate lap, with Brigliadori dropping to eighth place and Stefanovski to tenth. 
The final lap then saw Jelmini continue his attack on the race leader, but Giacon held on to take the win. Tavano rounded off the podium places ahead of Ronnie Valori and Mauro Guastamacchia, with Brigliadori recovering to finish in sixth position ahead of Pellegrini. Giardelli, Reduzzi and Stefanovski completed the top ten.
The result means Tavano has moved ahead of Brigliadori in the standings and now has a two-point advantage. Pellegrini is a further ten points adrift and Jelmini is fourth, a further six points behind Pellegrini.
Race 2 is scheduled to start tomorrow at 10:50 local time (CET) and will be streamed live at www.tcr-series.com.

Race 1
1. Jonathan Giacon (MM Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R), 12 laps
2. Felice Jelmini (PMA Motorsport, Hyundai i30 N), 0.369
3. Salvatore Tavano (Scuderia del Girasole, CUPRA Leon Competición), 1.004
4. Ronnie Valori (BF Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 2.469
5. Mauro Guastamacchia (MM Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R), 9.256

Championship points
1. Salvatore Tavano 128 pts; 2. Eric Brigliadori 126; 3. Marco Pellegrini 116 

Picture: ACI Sport