A disappointed Franco Girolami has apologised to his Comtoyou Racing team after a last-lap mistake in the opening TCR Europe race at Spa-Francorchamps cost him the victory.
Until Les Combes on the last lap, Girolami had controlled the opening race from lights-to-flag, the pole-sitter looking comfortable in his Audi.
Volcano Motorsport’s Isidro Callejas had kept him honest, around half a second back, but the CUPRA driver had not attempted any overtaking moves all race long.
Girolami then threw away the lead with just half a lap to go when he locked his brakes at the end of the Kemmel Straight, handing Callejas the lead.
The Argentine still finished in second, and in doing so extended his championship lead, but he was nonetheless disappointed to throw away what could have been a second win of the season.
“I have to say I’m not so happy with myself,” admitted Girolami. “I apologise to all my team at Comtoyou Racing, we had the race in our pocket and I made a mistake on the last lap.
“I went for the brake and the brake was not there but it was my mistake, nothing to say, and I’m sorry for all the team.
“In the end, I scored a lot of points for the championship, so I need to see the positives that have come from this race.”