Yann Ehrlacher extends points lead at the Nürburgring
Yann Ehrlacher has strengthened his lead of the WTCR drivers’ championship with victory at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, leading team-mate Thed Björk in a Lynk & Co 1-2, while pole-sitter Néstor Girolami was dropped out of the top ten after a penalty for a start procedure violation.
The race was again started behind the safety car with the circuit still wet from overnight rain. Competition began after two loops around the Grand Prix section, with Girolami leading the way ahead of Ehrlacher and Attila Tassi. Yesterday’s race winner Esteban Guerrieri was able to get past Mikel Azcona’s Zengő, just as the field headed out onto the Nordschleife.
A mistake by Tom Coronel at Aremberg allowed both Guerrieri and Azcona through, while it was soon confirmed that race leader Girolami was under investigation for a start procedure issue, having crossed through the pit lane twice when heading out to the grid.
Girolami lost the lead in any case at the Döttinger Höhe straight, as Ehrlacher’s Lynk & Co 03 blasted straight past the Argentine, while Björk was unable to pull off the same move on Tassi behind, but instead the Swede was able to get ahead of him at the start of the GP section and grabbed third.
At the end of lap two, Björk then went past Girolami at Döttinger Höhe, with Jean-Karl Vernay also getting ahead of Coronel for seventh on the straight. Yvan Muller was running in a relatively quiet race, having picked off Nathanaël Berthon at the start, and then passing Coronel at the start of lap three on the GP section to move up to eighth.
The final move of the race saw Azcona grab back fifth from Guerrieri at Döttinger Höhe on the last lap, which became fourth following Girolami’s 30-second penalty that dropped him to 11th.
Ehrlacher’s win moves him up to 92 points, 31 clear of both Girolami and Björk, with Muller just one point further behind in fourth.
The WTCR will resume at Slovakia Ring on October 9th/11th.
Race 2
1. Yann Ehrlacher (Cyan Performance, Lynk & Co 03), 3 laps
2. Thed Björk (Cyan Performance, Lynk & Co 03), 5.835
3. Attila Tassi (Münnich Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R), 11.971
4. Mikel Azcona (Zengő Motorsport, CUPRA Leon Competición), 16.563
5. Esteban Guerrieri (Münnich Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R), 16.776
Championship points
1. Yann Ehrlacher 92 pts; 2. Néstor Girolami 61; 3. Thed Björk 61
Picture: WTCR/DPPI
