Tavano beats Baldan to the final sprint in Imola’s Race 1
TCR Italy’s reigning champion Salvatore Tavano won a thrilling first race at Imola, beating Nicola Baldan to the final sprint after a race-long battle. Tavano started from the pole and led from the lights to the flag; Baldan moved soon into second and began putting the pressure on Tavano, looking for a gap to pass.
At the start, Ruben Volt kept second behind Tavano and ahead of Baldan, but in lap 3, the young Estonian lost the position to Baldan. Behind the leading trio, Michele Imberti was chased by Antti Buri, while Dušan Kouřil overtook Kevin Ceccon for P5.
In lap 4, Imberti passed Volt and moved into P3.
Up front, Baldan closed the gap to Tavano e began chasing him, but the defending champion closed all the gaps.
Imberti was also putting in a great defensive driving, as he was closely followed by Volt, Buri, Kouřil and Ceccon; the latter was forced to retire with a broken rear suspension during during the 9th lap.
The fight for the lead intensified in the final laps, with Baldan desperately trying to find the gap for an overtaking manoeuvre. A few turns from the end, the leading pair took a lap to a DSG car, Baldan made his final attempts, diving inside Tavano between the two Rivazza bends. Their cars clashed, but Tavano kept the line and took the flag with a 0.281-second margin.
Imberti was third, claiming his maiden podium in TCR Italy, ahead of Volt, Kouřil and Buri. However, Volt was demoted to sixth by a 5-second penalty for a grid infringement, which promoted Kouřil to fourth – his best result so far – and Buri to fifth.
The Finn has retained the leadership in the standings, but Baldan and Tavano have cut his advantage to 14 and 18 points respectively. Ceccon’s retirement meant that he dropped from second to fourth, 41 points behind. After Qualifying 20th due to a broken wheel hub, Eric Brigliadori recovered to finish ninth, but has seen his gap from the leader growing to 47 points.
Live streaming of the Race 2 will be tomorrow at 10:35 CEST on www.tcr-series.com. Matteo Poloni will start from the pole position of the reversed grid, with Kevin Ceccon alongside him.
Imola – Race 1
1. Salvatore Tavano (Scuderia del Girasole, CUPRA Leon Competición), 17 laps
2. Nicola Baldan (Target Competition, Hyundai i30 N), 0.281
3. Michele Imberti (Élite Motorsport, CUPRA Leon Competición), 4.353
4. Dušan Kouřil (K2 Engineering, Hyundai i30 N), 7.887
5. Antti Buri (Target Competition, Hyundai i30 N), 8.294
Championship points
1. A. Buri 286 pts; 2. N. Baldan 272; 3. S. Tavano 268
Picture: ACI Sport
