Pepe Oriola timed his charge to the front to perfection and put in a controlled drive to win the opening FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) race in Slovakia.
The result marks a first victory of the season for both the Spaniard and the CUPRA TCR in the category.
A poor start from pole-sitter and pre-race favourite Gabriele Tarquini in the Hyundai i30 N TCR opened the door for Aurelien Comte’s DG Sport-run Peugeot 308 to seize the advantage into Turn 1, with Oriola and Jean-Karl Vernay’s Audi RS 3 LMS following through.
The decisive move for the race lead came at Turn 2 a lap later, with Oriola squeezing through past the Frenchman, inviting Vernay to similarly get past on the outside at Turn 3 for second.
A safety car for Frederic Vervisch’s stranded Audi at T12 briefly threatened Oriola’s supremacy with a recovering Tarquini looming behind, but he managed – despite a brief investigation – to hold the lead, which he duly extended to 1.7 seconds at the chequered flag.
Comte eventually took fourth ahead of a season-best showing from Fabrizio Giovanardi in the Team Mulsanne-run Alfa Romeo Giulietta, the pair just 0.2s apart at the finish.
Team-mate and championship debutante Kevin Ceccon, however, stalled the sister Alfa on the grid but fought back in the race to claim 21st.
Yann Ehrlacher led the Honda Civic Type R contingent in sixth for Munnich Motorsport, with Tom Coronel and Denis Dupont (Audi) behind, the latter scoring his first points of the season.
Compatriots Aurelien Panis and Nathanael Berthon complete the top ten.
Though the YMR pairing of Yvan Muller and Thed Bjork fought back from their penalties for exceeding the maximum boost pressure in qualifying, neither was ultimately able to take points in 12th and 13th.
As a result, Muller’s advantage at the top has been thinned to just five points ahead of Tarquini.
The third Hyundai to fall foul of the stewards, that of Norbert Michelisz, fared even worse as he took the flag 23rd after a race-long scuffle with the Sebastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Golf GTis.
Britain’s Gordon Shedden endured a race of two halves; the Audi racer made a blistering getaway and claimed seven spots on the opening tour, but gradually dropped back en route to an eventual 16th.
The second qualifying session of the weekend at the 3.6 mile Slovakia Ring gets underway at 14:10 BST.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Team Oscaro by Campos Racing | CUPRA TCR | 11 | 26:24.640 | 2:12.386 | 3 |
| 2 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY |  |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 11 | 1.734 | 2:12.629 | 5 |
| 3 | 30 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 2.374 | 2:12.998 | 1 |
| 4 | 7 | Aurélien COMTE | |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 11 | 5.525 | 2:13.393 | 2 |
| 5 | 88 | Fabrizio GIOVANARDI | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 11 | 5.773 | 2:12.994 | 12 |
| 6 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 11 | 7.357 | 2:12.899 | 7 |
| 7 | 9 | Tom CORONEL |  |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 11 | 7.725 | 2:13.273 | 6 |
| 8 | 20 | Denis DUPONT |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 11 | 8.190 | 2:13.680 | 10 |
| 9 | 21 | Aurélien PANIS | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 11 | 8.993 | 2:13.411 | 9 |
| 10 | 23 | Nathanaël BERTHON | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 11 | 9.813 | 2:13.416 | 11 |
| 11 | 8 | Norbert NAGY |  |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 11 | 11.557 | 2:13.847 | 14 |
| 12 | 48 | Yvan MULLER | |
YMR | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 12.383 | 2:13.379 | 25 |
| 13 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
YMR | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 12.594 | 2:13.343 | 26 |
| 14 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 11 | 13.395 | 2:13.765 | 8 |
| 15 | 44 | Petr FULÍN |  |
Fullin Race Academy | CUPRA TCR | 11 | 13.767 | 2:13.183 | 15 |
| 16 | 31 | Kevin CECCON | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 11 | 14.019 | 2:13.011 | 17 |
| 17 | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN |  |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 11 | 15.569 | 2:13.868 | 16 |
| 18 | 27 | John FILIPPI | |
Team Oscaro by Campos Racing | CUPRA TCR | 11 | 15.856 | 2:13.927 | 23 |
| 19 | 12 | Rob HUFF | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 22.247 | 2:14.579 | 18 |
| 20 | 63 | Benjamin LESSENNES | |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 11 | 22.917 | 2:14.357 | 21 |
| 21 | 25 | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 24.338 | 2:14.866 | 19 |
| 22 | 17 | Andrej STUDENIČ | |
Brutal Fish Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 24.575 | 2:15.018 | 20 |
| 23 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ | |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 10 | + 1 LAP | 2:13.209 | 24 |
| 24 | 66 | Zsolt Dávid SZABÓ | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 9 | + 2 LAPS | 2:14.440 | 22 |
| R | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 6 | DNF | 2:14.288 | 4 |
| R | 22 | Frédéric VERVISCH | |
Audi Sport Team Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS | 3 | DNF | 2:14.769 | 13 |