Victory on the home ground for Benjamin Leuchter
Benjamin Leuchter proved that those who considered him as the top seed for the WTCR at the Nürburgring were right. The German driver became the ninth different winner in the season so far as he scored a lights-to-flag victory in Race 3, that was also the third consecutive victory of the day for the Volkswagen Golf GTI after Shogo Mitsuyama’s in TCR Japan and Johan Kristoffersson’s in WTCR’s Race 2.
Leuchter started from the pole, while the second spot on the grid remained empty, as Rob Huff’s car couldn’t be repaired after the incident in the previous race.
Esteban Guerrieri made a great start from third on the grid, but Leuchter managed to keep him at bay. Even before the field left the Grand Prix circuit to enter the Nordschleife, a series on incidents eliminated half-a-dozen of cars, including Norbert Michelisz’s and Thed Björk’s, second and third in the standings. Michelisz collided with Frédéric Vervisch and Björk with Andy Priaulx.
During the first lap, Leuchter and Guerrieri had a close fight for the lead and so Vervisch took the opportunity to pass the Argentine for second. Behind them, Attila Tassi stopped on the track with overheating problems while he was fourth, then Jean-Karl Vernay overtook Gabriele Tarquini for fourth and began to close the gap from Guerrieri.
During the second lap, Kristoffersson who had recovered after being involved in one of the first lap incidents, was chasing Yvan Muller and Nicky Catsuburg in 11th position. Suddenly, as the two in front of him swerved to the left, the Swedish had to move onto the grass, lost control and crashed.
During the final lap, the top five positions were frozen, although Vervisch was very close to Leuchter when the German took the chequered flag. Guerrieri, Vernay and Tarquini followed, with Tom Coronel in sixth position having passed his teammate Aurélien Panis.
With Michelisz and Björk out of the race, Guerrieri has stretched his leading margin in the standings to 45 points.
The WTCR will return into action for its sixth event at Vila Real on July 5/7.
Race 3
1. Benjamin Leuchter (Sébastien Loeb Racing, Volkswagen Golf GTI) 3 laps
2. Frédéric Vervisch (Comtoyou Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 0.495
3. Esteban Guerrieri (Münnich Motorsport, Honda Civic FK7), 1.885
4. Jean-Karl Vernay (Leopard Racing WRT, Audi RS 3 LMS), 2.505
5. Gabriele Tarquini (BRC Squadra Corse, Hyundai i30 N), 7.179
Championship points
1. Girolami 215 pts; 2. Michelisz 170; 3. Björk 161
