After a sunny and thrilling weekend at Mettet, the TCR Benelux will have to wait until the last round in Assen to have a champion. Benjamin Lessennes (Boutsen-Ginion Honda Civic) slightly reinforced his leadership (he has now 362 points) thanks to two great Sprint wins and despite missing the Qualifying Race because of technical problems. Guillaume Mondron (Delahaye Racing Volkswagen Golf) remains second (348 points), in a weekend where his teammate Giacomo Altoè took two second finishes. Aurélien Comte and Kevin Abbring (now at 336 points) in the DG Sport Compétition Peugeot 308, have seriously relaunched their chances thanks to an excellent weekend, which yielded 98 points and two wins. The pairing of Maxime Potty-Mathieu Detry (Team WRT Volkswagen Golf) also remains in the title fight (313 points).
The Long Race started with a coup de théâtre as the pole-sitting Honda of Lessennes and Stéphane Lémeret couldn’t make it to the grid because of a transmission issue. This left the way clear to Potty, Denis Dupont (Team WRT SEAT León), Mika Morien (Bas Koeten Racing Audi RS3 LMS) and Comte to lead the first stint. Victory though was decided during the driver change phase, as Comte delayed the pit stop as long as he could, setting some very quick laps, which allowed his team mate Abbring to be in the lead in the second stint and keep it until the flag, beating Sam Dejonghe (Team WRT SEAT León), Detry, Willem Meijer (Bas Koeten Racing Audi RS3 LMS) and Altoè.
The Sprint Race 1 saw a one-man show of Lorenzo Donniacuo, with the Bas Koeten Racing Audi RS3 LMS, who signed a light-to-flag win. The young Belgian had replaced last-minute (on Saturday morning) Maarten Mus, who was not feeling well, along Alexis Van De Poele. Donnniacuo beat Altoè, Dejonghe, Abbring and Lémeret in the repaired Boutsen-Ginion Honda. The second Sprint Race started with a great performance of Dejonghe, but the RACB-backed driver was victim of a locked wheel in lap 10, leaving victory to Abbring, followed by Altoè, Lémeret and Detry.
Sprint Race 3 was won by Lessennes after a great recovery from the last position on the grid and a duel with Comte that he passed in lap 12. Morien took third ahead of Potty, Dupont and Mondron. In the fourth and last race of the day, Lessennes and Comte again put in a great show. Lessennes kept the advantage throughout the entire race, although winning by a mere 14-thousand gap in a photo-finish finale. Potty, Dupont and Mondron again completed the top-5.
The season finale will take place in the Netherlands, at Assen, on October 21 and 22.
