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Edition

Australia

Borković and Colciago shares the honours in Austria

Stefano Comini takes the lead in the standings

Dusan Borkovic , GE-Force, Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR

Dusan Borkovic , GE-Force, Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR

TCR media

Roberto Colciago, M1RA, Honda Civic TCR
Davit Kajaia, GE-Force, Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR, Dusan Borkovic , GE-Force, Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR
Roberto Colciago, M1RA, Honda Civic TCR
Press Conference: Pole sitter Mato Homola, DG Sport Compétition, Opel Astra TCR, Dusan Borkovic , GE-Force, Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR, Pepe Oriola, Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing, SEAT León TCR
Roberto Colciago, M1RA, Honda Civic TCR
Davit Kajaia, GE-Force, Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR, Dusan Borkovic , GE-Force, Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR
Dusan Borkovic , GE-Force, Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR
Thomas Jäger, Kissling Motorsport, Opel Astra TCR
Attila Tassi, M1RA, Honda Civic TCR
Rob Huff, Leopard Racing Team WRT, Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR
Stefano Comini, Comtoyou Racing, Audi RS3 LMS
Pepe Oriola, Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing, SEAT León TCR
Frédéric Vervisch, Comtoyou Racing, Audi RS3 LMS
Mato Homola, DG Sport Compétition, Opel Astra TCR
Parc ferme
Stefano Comini, Comtoyou Racing, Audi RS3 LMS, Roberto Colciago, M1RA, Honda Civic TCR
Roberto Colciago, M1RA, Honda Civic TCR
Attila Tassi, M1RA, Honda Civic TCR, Dusan Borkovic , GE-Force, Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR
Duncan Ende, Icarus Motorsports, SEAT León TCR
Jean-Karl Vernay, Leopard Racing Team WRT, Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR
Milovan Vesnic , ASK Vesnic, Audi RS 3 LMS
Roberto Colciago, M1RA, Honda Civic TCR leads
Roberto Colciago, M1RA, Honda Civic TCR leads

This year’s Austrian weekend of the TCR International Series will be mostly remembered for the crashes at Turn 9 that wrecked four cars and, in the case of Jean-Karl Vernay’s incident, shook up the standings. In fact, the French driver lost the series' lead and dropped to third behind both the new leader Stefano Comini and Roberto Colciago.

Even worse, the Leopard Racing team has the arduous task of rebuilding two cars (Vernay’s and Rob Huff’s) in the few days before Friday’s free practice at the Hungaroring.

The good news is that these high-speed crashes proved how safe the TCR cars are, as all four drivers escaped unhurt apart for a bruise to Huff’s left elbow.

Dušan Borković claimed an authoritative win in Race 1, as did Roberto Colciago in Race 2. Mat’o Homola celebrated his and Opel’s first podium in the International Series (second in Race 1).

The other podium finishers were also happy: Attila Tassi (second in Race 2) could not have hoped for such a result after his destructive incident on Friday, but he was rescued by the combined efforts of M1RA and JAS that ‘materialized’ a second car for him; Comini put in his usual show, a mix of attack and defence that was worth two third places and the leadership in the points.

Another driver who had reasons to rejoice was Jens Reno Møller, who scored in both races, fighting on equal terms against far more experienced competitors.

The series will resume next week at Budapest’s Hungaroring for rounds 11 and 12.

Results remain provisional pending an appeal

The Lukoil Craft-Bamboo team lodged a protest against four cars (the Alfa Romeos of Kajaia and Borković and the Opels of Homola and Jäger), requesting technical checks of their turbochargers.
Following the report of the Technical Delegate, the Stewards of the Meeting rejected the protest, but Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Team has decided to appeal.

Race 1 – Borković wins, as Leopard duo crash out

Dušan Borković took a light-to-flag victory - the second for him and the third for GE-Force and the Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR - in a race that turned to drama for Leopard Racing, as both Rob Huff and Jean-Karl Vernay crashed at high speed at the infamous Turn 9. Luckily both drivers escaped shocked, but unhurt.

The result was decided by the two perfect sprints that Borković performed at the start and the re-start after the first safety-car period. In both cases the Serbian was able to keep at bay the pole-sitter Mat’o Homola and his Opel Astra.

As Homola was forced to concentrate on defending his second position, first from Pepe Oriola and in the final stages from Stefano Comini, Borković created a small gap for the lead.

Behind him, Homola eventually managed to retain second place, while Comini moved up to third in his Audi RS3 LMS overtaking the SEAT cars of Oriola and James Nash. Just before the second safety car intervention, local driver Thomas Jäger managed to overtake Oriola and Nash as well to grab a brilliant fourth.

Jens Reno Møller completed a spotless race, finishing as the best of the Honda drivers in an impressive eighth position.

With Vernay off (and sidelined for the rest of the event) and Roberto Colciago scoreless following a collision with Daniel Lloyd, Comini took advantage of the situation, moving to second in the standings, only three points behind Vernay.

Race 2 – Colciago and Tassi make 1-2 for M1RA

Roberto Colciago and Attila Tassi finished first and second, ending in glory a weekend that had started in the worst way for M1RA and Honda after Tassi’s crash in Friday’s free practice.

While Colciago dashed from pole position and escaped on the way to his third victory of the season, Tassi made a great start as well, jumping to fourth; then he was able to overtake James Nash and Gianni Morbidelli to grab the second position that he defended until the end despite pressure from Stefano Comini.

The winner of Race 1 Dušan Borković ended up in the gravel – maybe due to a broken driveshaft – and so did Pepe Oriola, while a few other drivers (Kajaia, Demoustier, Bettera) had flat tyres because of debris on the track.

Thomas Jäger encored his fourth place and Jens Reno Møller scored again; Gianni Morbidelli was classified fifth, the best result for him and WestCoast Racing so far.

Quotes from the podium finishers

Dušan Borković (1st Race 1): “When you win a race, the question is always asked ‘you made it look easy’ but it really wasn’t easy. I knew I had to get a good start, as it would have been very tough to overtake Mat’o if he got a better start than me. I was scared that he would overtake me in the second sector with the slipstream but he didn’t manage to do it. Same with the safety car, but I managed again to have the inside line. The second race was disappointing because I had a problem with a driveshaft after Jäger twice pushed me wide at the chicane. Comini did a great job, but he will have the most Success Ballast next week.”

Roberto Colciago (1st Race 2): “I had a good first race, but I was pushed out by someone else. In Race 2, I had a good start and then Attila was fighting with Comini – I was looking in the mirror and saying ‘thanks’! That was really the key to my win. In this championship, in every race you can say it’s me and Comini or me and someone else or Comini and someone else; there are so many fast drivers and the ballast changes. Today I was lucky with the ballast, unlike in Spa. Every race is a story. To talk about the championship, we have to wait until the end.”

Mat’o Homola (2nd Race 1): “I scored more points this weekend than in all the previous races together! For sure, I wanted to win the first race but Dušan had a really good start. I almost overtook him twice, but the second time I didn’t want to take any major risk because the points are so important for me. It wasn’t easy to keep Stefano behind me, but he had a puncture and that helped me. After the safety car, I got a slipstream from Dušan towards the end of the race, so I was lucky for that. I’m sorry for all the drivers who crashed at Turn 9 over the weekend – I’m really pleased that they’re all okay.”

Attila Tassi (2nd Race 2): “After the crash on Friday, we weren’t even sure that we could take part in Qualifying or the races, so I want to say a huge thanks to my family, to the team and to JAS for the fast delivery of the brand new car. It’s a great result for me and for the team and I’m very happy. For the first few laps as I went through Turn 9, it wasn’t scary but I was building up the speed again. If I was scared, I wouldn’t have got back in the car. Hungary is the home race for me and the team and I’ve been waiting all season for it, so my aim is to have my first win in TCR there.”

Stefano Comini (3rd in both races): “This was not a bad weekend for me at all. It’s like a game of roulette here in Salzburgring, because every session it’s different. You need to have big respect for Turn 9 because a lot of drivers crashed there. It’s amazing what TCR has done with the cars because they were scary crashes but here is ‘Attilino’ finishing second after a big crash. It’s good to know that we are working with safe cars. I don’t actually remember much about the races, only that some overtaking moves were good and that I had a puncture! If you want to overtake here, you have to take risks so you can defend quite easily. After only two and a half months, we are leading the championship with a new team, a new car and a last-minute project.”

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Edition

Australia