Schmarl wins and Ferrara stretches his leading margin

Target Competition’s Jürgen Schmarl claimed his maiden TCR Italy win at Misano. The Austrian and his Honda Civic FK2 crossed the finishing line in second position, close behind the Cupra of Andrea Larini; however, the latter was given a 25-second time penalty for an infringement during the restart after the safety car that dropped him to 15^th.
Luigi Ferrara (V-Action Racing Alfa Romeo Giulietta) and MM Motorsport teammates Massimiliano Mugelli (Honda Civic FK7) and Lorenzo Nicoli (Honda Civic FK2) were classified second, third and fourth immediately behind Schmarl.
At the start, Larini sprinted from the pole and led from Marco Pellegrini, Schmarl, Eric Scalvini, Plamen Kralev, Matteo Greco and Ferrara, but two different pile ups resulted in the race being red flagged.
When the race restarted behind the safety car, eight cars were missing: Argenti’s Opel, Bernazzani’s Peugeot, the Audis of Bettera and Dionisio, the Cupras of Thellung and Gagliano, the Hondas of Rodrigues and Nardilli.
Larini led for the whole race, while the drivers behind delivered a number of thrilling fights for the positions and there were several contacts. Kralev’s Audi RS3 LMS and Pellegrini’s Civic FK2 collided and retired while fighting for third; in another incident, Scalvini’s Hyundai i30 N was sent into a spin by Greco’s Cupra while fighting for fifth; Greco was then given a drive through.
In the final laps, Ferrara managed to overtake Schmarl, but the Austrian retook the position and was handed the victory, courtesy of Larini’s penalty.
Championship newcomers Edoardo Cappello (Otto Motorsport Giulietta) and Giuseppe Montalbano (BF Motorsport SEAT León) finished fifth and sixth respectively, with the latter encoring his victory in the DSG Trophy race.
With the pairing of Greco-Tavano not scoring, Ferrara further increased his leading margin in the standings to 23.5 points; Schmarl moved up to fourth in the classification, 37 points behind.
The championship will resume at Mugello on July 14^th and 15^th.