Attila Tassi completed his and M1RA’s perfect home weekend by claiming another victory and becoming the first TCR International Series driver able to score two wins in the same weekend since Pepe Oriola in Bahrain last year. Something that drove the Hungarian fans crazy and propelled the 18-year old Tassi to the top of the standings.
Jens Reno Møller was the other hero of the race, as he led for most of the laps and eventually finished third; the first podium results for the Dane so far that came nearly unexpected considering that he had badly crashed his Honda Civic yesterday during the Qualifying, which forced his team to work until 5:00 this morning.
Oriola was clearly determined to score as more points as possible not to lose contact with the point leaders; he was able to move up from fifth to second overtaking Colciago, Altoè and finally Møller on the last lap.
Norbert Michelisz completed his job, by finishing sixth and keeping Jean-Karl Vernay at bay for the whole race, which helped his teammates Tassi and Colciago to build a margin over the Frenchman in the standings.
Two other drivers deserved to be mentioned: Giacomo Altoè and Stian Paulsen. Even younger than Tassi, Altoè did his best to obtain his first podium; eventually we finished immediately behind the top three, but showed he has the speed and maturity to become a top driver. As for Paulsen, he finished eighth and finally scored his first points in the International Series, which were a reward for his efforts.
Tassi now leads the Drivers’ classification with a 6-point margin ahead of Roberto Colciago; Vernay dropped to third, a further seven points adrift, while Stefano Comini and Oriola are fourth and fifth with gaps of 25 and 42 points from the lead.
The newt event will be at Oschersleben, Germany on 8 and 9 July.
Key facts
Grid – Nagy’s SEAT is missing due to an oil leak from the engine
Start – Møller sprints from the pole position, followed by Altoè and Tassi who jumps from the eighth position to the third; there is a series of contacts as the field negotiates Turn 1 and as the dust settles down, the count of wrecked cars includes Kajaia’s Alfa Romeo, Morbidelli’s Volkswagen and Lloyd’s SEAT
Lap 1 – the safety car is deployed
Lap 4 – the race resumes
Lap 5 – Michelisz overtakes Paulsen for 6th; Huff overtakes Dmoustier for 12th
Lap 6 – Tassi overtakes Altoè for second; Oriola overtakes Colciago for fourth
Lap 7 – Altoè defends his third place from Oriola; Homola overtakes Demoustier for 13th
Lap 8 – Comini overtakes Huff for 11th; Borković retires with a power steering failure
Lap 9 – Comini, Huff and Homola have a close fight for 11th with a few contacts; Ende retires with electrical problems
Lap 10 – Tassi closes the gap from Møller to three tenths
Lap 11 – Tassi takes the lead from Møller; Vernay tries in vain to overtake Michelisz
Lap 12 – Oriola overtakes Altoè for third; Vervisch stops on the track with a broken wheel hub; Vesnić retires with brake problems
Lap 13 – Oriola overtakes Møller for second
Lap 14 – Tassi claims his second victory of the day, from Oriola and Møller who finishes on the podium for the first time
