Münnich Motorsport’s Yann Ehrlacher and Boutsen Ginion Racing’s Tom Coronel were penalised after the opening World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) race in Ningbo, the former for a jump start and the latter for causing a collision.
Ehrlacher jumped from seventh on the grid up to third on the opening lap, but was eventually knocked out of the podium positions when he was passed by WRT’s Gordon Shedden mid-way through the race.
However, the stewards later adjudged that the Honda driver’s start was too good, and he was hit with a post-race penalty equivalent to a drive-through penalty, dropping him to 18th and losing the 14 points that he had gained in the title race.
Ehrlacher had been sixth in the driver’s standings with his provisional result, but his penalty drops him to eighth overall, behind Pepe Oriola and Esteban Guerrieri, and 63 points from the top of the table.
Coronel, meanwhile, was penalised for driving into the back of Team Mulsanne’s Fabrizio Giovanardi early on in the race, eliminating both drivers. The Dutchman was given a grid drop of ten places for the next race, which is Sunday’s reversed grid contest.
Revised race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY |  |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 20 | 20 LAPS | 1:24.305 | 1 |
| 2 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Team Oscaro by Campos Racing | CUPRA TCR | 20 | 4.913 | 1:24.399 | 2 |
| 3 | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN |  |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 20 | 5.513 | 1:24.510 | 5 |
| 4 | 22 | Frédéric VERVISCH |  |
Audi Sport Team Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS | 20 | 10.070 | 1:24.563 | 6 |
| 5 | 7 | Aurélien COMTE | |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 20 | 11.102 | 1:24.746 | 9 |
| 6 | 31 | Kevin CECCON |  |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 20 | 11.531 | 1:24.754 | 8 |
| 7 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 20 | 17.044 | 1:24.925 | 11 |
| 8 | 23 | Nathanaël BERTHON | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 20 | 17.556 | 1:24.599 | 3 |
| 9 | 21 | Aurélien PANIS | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 20 | 18.307 | 1:24.790 | 12 |
| 10 | 20 | Denis DUPONT | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 20 | 19.060 | 1:24.768 | 4 |
| 11 | 55 | MA Qing Hua |  |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 20 | 20.725 | 1:24.921 | 19 |
| 12 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
YMR | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 20 | 21.980 | 1:25.399 | 15 |
| 13 | 25 | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 20 | 23.449 | 1:24.784 | 14 |
| 14 | 12 | Rob HUFF | |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 20 | 24.049 | 1:24.796 | 13 |
| 15 | 48 | Yvan MULLER | |
YMR | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 20 | 26.113 | 1:25.212 | 16 |
| 16 | 27 | John FILIPPI | |
Team Oscaro by Campos Racing | CUPRA TCR | 20 | 26.980 | 1:25.568 | 18 |
| 17 | 30 | Gabriele TARQUINI | |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 20 | 27.428 | 1:25.224 | 20 |
| 18 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 20 | 9.613 | 1:24.654 | 7 |
| 19 | 42 | Timo SCHEIDER |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 15 | DNF | 1:25.052 | 17 |
| 20 | 66 | Zsolt Dávid SZABÓ |  |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 14 | DNF | 1:25.525 | 23 |
| R | 8 | Norbert NAGY | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 13 | DNF | 1:25.246 | 22 |
| R | 9 | Tom CORONEL |  |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 4 | DNF | 1:25.980 | 21 |
| R | 88 | Fabrizio GIOVANARDI | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 3 | DNF | 1:25.745 | 24 |
| R | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 3 | DNF | 1:25.861 | 10 |
| R | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ | |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 3 | DNF | N/A | 25 |