Jordi Gené dominated the second race at Singapore’s Marina Bay Street Circuit.
The Spaniard pipped Tomas Engström at the start, resisted the Swede’s attempt to regain the lead during the first lap and then bid farewell to the rest of the field on his way to claim his third race win of the season.
Behind him, Mikhail Grachev seemed capable of achieving a podium position for the Volkswagen Golf, but in the latest stages the Russian’s pace faded and he dropped down.
Stefano Comini and Pepe Oriola delivered a great show in a fight for the third place that lasted for most of the race; eventually they found themselves promoted to second and third respectively when Grachev slowed down with technical issues.
Gianni Morbidelli managed to score a precious fourth place that keeps him in contention in the fight for the Drivers’ title.
The Singapore event propelled Comini on top of the standings, 11 points ahead of Oriola and 30 of Gené; Morbidelli lies fourth with a gap of 47 points.
Michael Choi of Prince Racing encored his yesterday’s victory in the TCR Asia Series, beating George Chou and Frank Yu; Kenneth Lau crossed the line in third, but was eventually penalized for jump start.
The championship will resume on October 19 and 20 at Buriram, Thailand, for rounds 19 and 20.
Key moments
Grid – Only Mak’s Opel is missing, following its crash in the warm up lap for yesterday’s Race 1
Start – Gené takes the lead, chased by team Engstler trio of Engström, Grachev and Veglia
Lap 1 – Oriola overtakes Hezemans for sixth; Grachev overtakes Engström for second
Lap 2 – Oriola and Comini overtake Veglia who slips to sixth
Lap 3 – Engström loses a few places and drops to seventh
Lap 4 – Oriola and Comini fight for third; Veglia defends fifth place from Morbidelli
Lap 5 – Gené stretches his leading gap ahead of Grachev; Rangoni pits and retires
Lap 6 – Afanasyev overtakes Hezemans for ninth; Hezemans spins, hits the wall and rejoins
Lap 7 – Comini overtakes Oriola for second
Lap 8 – Morbidelli overtakes Veglia for fifth; Comini overtakes Grachev for second; the Russian loses also third place to Oriola and then drops further back
Lap 9 – Gleason and Veglia run abreast fighting for fifth; Gleason jumps ahead; Afanasyev and Engström make contact
Lap 10 – Gené wins from Comini and Oriola, with Morbidelli in fourth; Choi repeats his victory in the TCR Asia race
What the drivers had to say
Jordi Gené, winner: “Everything went very well today and I am very happy to still be in the fight for the championship. Actually, the car had been excellent throughout the weekend, I only had an unlucky qualifying that put me in a difficult position for Race 1, but my pace was very god yesterday too. Today was a different story and I only needed to stay focused to avoid trouble and mistakes.”
Stefano Comini, second: “I apologize for not putting the show today! I just tried to preserve the car, the tyres and my energy. It was a good race and I had a good fight with Pepe. For the rest, I slightly scrapped a wall and my brakes got very weak in the closing laps, but nothing serious. I am very happy of the results of this weekend, which are excellent with regard to the championship.”
Pepe Oriola, third: “It is good to finish the weekend on the podium. I knew it was going to be a difficult round for me, mainly because of the maximum success ballast I was carrying. Still, the car performed well in free practice, then I had a more disappointing qualifying, but the races were ok, and we head now to a very close and exciting final battle for the title.”
Michael Choi, 1st in TCR Asia: “It’s nice to win again, it has been a very god weekend for me and the team. Today, we made a very good race, which ended with our two cars.