Vervisch scores the new Audi’s maiden victory in Aragón
Frédéric Vervisch converted his pole position into an authoritative victory in WTCR’s Race 2 at MotorLand Aragón, becoming the sixth different winner from the six races held so far. The Belgian driver scored the maiden win of the new Audi RS 3 LMS TCR and the first in the current season for Comtoyou Racing. Thed Björk finished second in his Cyan Performance Lynk & Co 03, while Gilles Magnus completed the podium, providing the icing on the cake for Comtoyou.
Jean-Karl Vernay and Yann Ehrlacher who were on top of the standings on equal points after Race 1, finished fourth and seventh, which meant that Vernay has now a eight-point margin over the reigning champion.
Vervisch sprinted from the pole to take the lead ahead of Björk and Magnus, while Mikel Azcona stalled from P9 the grid and dropped at the back of the field.
The leading trio built a small margin ahead of Norbert Michelisz and Vernay; immediately behind Nathanaël Berthon and Tom Coronel resumed their fight as in the first race. Coronel passed Berthon in lap 2, but the latter retook the sixth place in the following lap.
Further back, Gabriele Tarquini passed Ehrlacher for P8, while Luca Engstler and Santiago Urrutia overtook Yvan Muller advancing to 10th and 11th respectively. However, in lap 5, Urrutia’s car slowed down and retired into the pits.
In lap 6, Rob Huff overtook Muller for P11 and Vernay passed Michelisz for P4; later on, Michelisz was closely chased by the trio of Berthon, Coronel and Tarquini. Berthon passed Michelisz for P5 in lap 8 and soon afterwards Coronel stopped on the track while he was running in seventh position, which prompted the safety car into action.
Racing resumed for three final laps in which there were no further changes amongst the top-four, and so Vervisch won from Björk, Magnus and Vernay. Behind them Michelisz dropped from P5 and stopped, which promoted Berthon and Tarquini to fifth and sixth. Ehrlacher was classified seventh after surviving a tough fight with Engstler and Huff.
The WTCR will resume at Adria Raceway on 31st July/1st August.
Aragón – Race 2
1. Frédéric Vervisch (Comtoyou Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 14 laps
2. Thed Björk (Cyan Performance, Lynk & Co 03), 1.191
3. Gilles Magnus (Comtoyou Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 1.691
4. Jean-Karl Vernay (Engstler Motorsport, Hyundai Elantra N), 2.400
5. Nathanaël Berthon (Comtoyou Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 3.834
Championship points
1. JK. Vernay 82 pts; 2. Y. Ehrlacher 74; 3. Y. Muller 67
Picture: WTCR/DPPI
