Tavano beats Baldan in the final sprint

Salvatore Tavano and Nicola Baldan crossed the Mugello finishing line split by only 43 thousandths of a second and were classified first and second at the end of an hectic race.
This was Tavano’s maiden win in TCR Italy that repaid the Cupra driver for the disappointment of the penalty that had deprived him of pole position. The victory also meant that Tavano closed the gap from Luigi Ferrara in the championship standings to only 3.5 points.
Ferrara started well from fourth on the grid ahead of Eric Scalvini and Tavano; then he took the lead on the opening lap, overtaking the pole sitter Baldan, while Tavano passed Scalvini for third. After a brief safety car period to recover the Cupra of Peter Gross that was stranded in the gravel following a contact with Andrea Larini’s similar car, Ferrara was able to pull away.
However, on lap 5 his pace faded and the V-Action Racing Alfa Romeo Giulietta began to drop down the order until it retired with brake problems.
For the rest of the race, Baldan chased Tavano and on the last lap they ran abreast until the end, with the Cupra beating the Hyundai by 43 thousandths of a second.
Scalvini was classified third, ahead of Marco Pellegrini and Matteo Greco who won the DSG Trophy.
Race 2 will start tomorrow at 15:00 CET; live streaming at www.tcr-series.tv.