Attila Tassi, Mitchell Cheah and Gàbor Kismarty-Lechner will all serve grid penalties ahead of tomorrow’s final set of FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) races scheduled to take place at Motorland Aragón.
Tassi, whose Münnich Motorsport Honda required an engine change prior to the opening free practice session, will serve a mandatory penalty for switching power units that will see him drop to the back of the grid for race one.
Kismarty-Lechner, meanwhile, was found to be guilty of breaking pit lane regulations at the start of phase one of qualifying, for which he’ll serve a five-place grid drop. The Hungarian had actually failed to set any lap times in Q1 anyway, so will remain on the final row of the starting grid.
Cheah, however, who has taken over the Team Engstler Hyundai of Nicky Catsburg this weekend, has been sent to the very back of the starting order for all three of Sunday’s races. This comes after the Malaysian driver failed to report to the weighbridge for scrutineering after qualifying.
The impact of this on the title race is minimal, with the front-runners largely unaffected. However, Esteban Guerrieri will receive a one-place grid boost from seventeenth to sixteenth for race one as a result of Tassi’s demotion. Still, the Argentine has a mountain to climb if he is to get on terms with the likes of Yann Ehrlacher or Jean-Karl Vernay.