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Tom Coronel controls Opening Race to take Portuguese victory

Tom Coronel took victory in a sedate opening World Touring Car Championship race on the streets of Vila Real, controlling the race from pole to take the win ahead of Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Tom Chilton.

A clean start for Coronel allowed him to control the race early on, although he had to sustain consistent pressure from the independent Citroën of Chilton, who got the jump on LADA’s Nicky Catsburg at the very start of the race.

The Brit was, however, unable to find a way past on the fast street circuit and had to settle for second, his fourth podium of the season, ahead of Catsburg, who consolidated his second place in the drivers’ championship, despite reporting issues with his brake pedal.

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The second Sébastien Loeb Racing of Mehdi Bennani finished where he started in fourth, ahead of points leader José María López in fifth. The leading works’ Citroën got past Cyan Racing’s Thed Björk at the start, but was unable to make further progress.

Rob Huff was the leading Honda driver in sixth, with the Brit making one of only a few overtaking moves once the race settled down. Throwing his Honda inside Björk’s Volvo at Turn 19 on the penultimate lap, Huff moved up to seventh in the drivers’ standings as a result.

Björk had to settle for seventh, two places lower than where he started, ahead of Honda’s Norbert Michelisz in eighth.

Neither Citroën’s Yvan Muller nor Honda’s Tiago Monteiro made any progress in the race, finishing ninth and tenth respectively. Monteiro focussed on staying out of trouble ahead of his start from pole in the Main Race, although the Portuguese driver did report issues with a vibration as the race went on.

Despite finishing outside the points in 11th, Münnich Motorsport’s James Thompson remained with the leading pack of cars throughout the race.

Hugo Valente was the only retirement, due to the LADA driver brushing he barriers after eight laps and limping back to the pitlane for early repairs.

The Main Race follows at 16:15 WEST / BST.

Race result

POS NO CL DRIVER NAT ENTRANT CAR LAPS TIME/GAP BEST GD
1 9 T Tom CORONEL ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 13 13 LAPS 2:00.548 1
2 3 T Tom CHILTON Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 13 0.597 2:00.564 3
3 10 Nicky CATSBURG LADA Sport Rosneft LADA Vesta WTCC 13 2.626 2:00.569 2
4 25 T Mehdi BENNANI Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 13 3.145 2:00.473 4
5 37 José María LÓPEZ Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 13 3.626 2:00.432 6
6 12 Rob HUFF Honda Racing Team JAS Honda Civic WTCC 13 4.332 2:00.623 7
7 62 Thed BJÖRK Polestar Cyan Racing Volvo S60 WTCC 13 5.155 2:00.805 5
8 5 Norbert MICHELISZ Honda Racing Team JAS Honda Civic WTCC 13 5.452 2:00.727 8
9 68 Yvan MULLER Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 13 7.411 2:00.510 9
10 18 Tiago MONTEIRO Honda Racing Team JAS Honda Civic WTCC 13 8.054 2:00.531 10
11 15 T James THOMPSON ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 13 9.711 2:00.839 12
12 2 Gabriele TARQUINI LADA Sport Rosneft LADA Vesta WTCC 13 15.602 2:01.069 17
13 63 Robert DAHLGREN Polestar Cyan Racing Volvo S60 WTCC 13 20.282 2:00.983 11
14 55 T Ferenc FICZA Zengő Motorsport Honda Civic WTCC 13 30.555 2:02.404 15
15 27 T John FILIPPI Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 13 32.774 2:02.166 14
16 11 T Grégoire DEMOUSTIER Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 13 33.218 2:02.147 16
17 99 T Dániel NAGY Zengő Motorsport Honda Civic WTCC 13 1:07.844 2:04.630 18
R 7 Hugo VALENTE LADA Sport Rosneft LADA Vesta WTCC 8 5 Lp. 2:00.608 13

Complete race results

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