Stefano Comini took his and Comtoyou Racing’s second win of the season in race two of the TCR International Series at Monza, fending off M1RA’s Roberto Colciago after a close battle in the closing stages.
Comini took the lead on the opening lap when reverse-grid pole sitter Hugo Valente got off to a poor start, allowing the second Craft-Bamboo SEAT of James Nash to briefly lead.
Comini then got to the front at the second chicane when he went around the outside of Nash through Curva Biassono.
On lap four contact between Comtoyou Racing’s Frédéric Vervisch, who was in seventh, and Roberto Colciago ahead saw the duo skip the first chicane, emerging in front of DG Sport Compétition’s Mat’o Homola.
No penalty was given for the incident during the race, and the duo continued ahead of the Opel driver, although Colciago was later hit with a post-race penalty that sees him hit with a five-place grid penalty for the races in Salzburg.
Colciago continued his charge forwards through the field, and on lap five passed Pepe Oriola for fourth into the Parabolica. The Italian then picked off Jean-Karl Vernay at the first Lesmo on the following lap, before passing Nash for second on lap seven into Variante Ascari.
In the end, with three laps to go, Comini managed to hold on for the win, albeit not without having to defend the position heavily from Colciago, who briefly got past on the penultimate lap after skipping the first chicane due to contact with Comini – he had to give the place back as he clearly gained an unfair advantage.
Vervisch managed to take the final podium spot after passing Nash for the place on lap ten, leaving the Brit to settle for fourth.
Vernay finished in fifth, ahead of Homola and GE-Force’s Davit Kajaia. Spaniard Pepe Oriola was eighth after another challenging weekend for the Craft-Bamboo team, whilst Attila Tassi and Ferenc Ficza completed the top ten.
WestCoast Racing’s Gianni Morbidelli was the last of the classified finishers in 16th position after he was spun out by Tassi at the first chicane with only three laps left to go.
Valente ended up retiring after the opening lap when he made contact with Vernay at the first chicane, breaking the left-rear suspension on his car.
Also retiring on the opening lap was the GE-Force Alfa Romeo of Dušan Borković, who collected the spinning Honda of Attila Tassi on the exit of the first chicane.
The result means Vernay continues to lead the drivers’ championship with 113 points, ahead of Colciago in second who has 97 points and Comini in third a further two points adrift.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 1 | Stefano COMINI |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 11 | 22:14.501 | 2:00.274 | 3 |
| 2 | 5 | Roberto COLCIAGO |  |
M1RA | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 11 | 0.170 | 2:00.240 | 9 |
| 3 | 6 | Frédéric VERVISCH |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 11 | 1.273 | 2:00.285 | 10 |
| 4 | 54 | James NASH |  |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 11 | 1.797 | 2:00.458 | 2 |
| 5 | 2 | Jean-Karl VERNAY |  |
Leopard Racing Team WRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 2.052 | 2:00.360 | 4 |
| 6 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Opel Astra TCR | 11 | 2.240 | 2:00.595 | 6 |
| 7 | 16 | Davit KAJAIA |  |
GE-Force | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 11 | 2.369 | 2:00.078 | 7 |
| 8 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 11 | 2.789 | 2:00.281 | 5 |
| 9 | 9 | Attila TASSI |  |
M1RA | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 11 | 3.361 | 1:59.958 | 8 |
| 10 | 55 | Ferenc FICZA | |
Zele Racing | SEAT León TCR | 11 | 3.754 | 2:00.353 | 11 |
| 11 | 14 | Jaap VAN LAGEN |  |
Leopard Racing Team WRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 4.001 | 2:00.151 | 19 |
| 12 | 21 | Giacomo ALTOÈ | |
West Coast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 9.062 | 2:00.859 | 13 |
| 13 | 11 | Jens Reno MØLLER |  |
Reno Racing | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 11 | 15.510 | 2:00.589 | 18 |
| 14 | 23 | Pierre-Yves CORTHALS | |
DG Sport Compétition | Opel Astra TCR | 11 | 16.704 | 2:01.384 | 15 |
| 15 | 76 | Daniele CAPPELLARI | |
CRC | SEAT León TCR DSG | 11 | 57.232 | 2:05.196 | 17 |
| 16 | 10 | Gianni MORBIDELLI | |
West Coast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 9 | 2 Laps | 2:00.650 | 12 |
| R | 34 | Stian PAULSEN |  |
Stian Paulsen Racing | SEAT León TCR | 6 | DNF | 2:02.036 | 16 |
| R | 7 | Hugo VALENTE | |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 1 | DNF | N/A | 1 |
| R | 62 | Dušan BORKOVIĆ |  |
GE-Force | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 1 | DNF | N/A | 14 |