SP Compétition’s Aurélien Comte claimed his maiden FIA TCR World Tour victory in the second race at Monza, coming from eighth on the grid to battle his way to the front.
BRC Racing’s Néstor Girolami and GOAT Racing’s Ignacio Montenegro shared the front row for the reversed-grid race, but at the start as Montenegro tried to go around the outside of Girolami into the first chicane he had to cut the chicane, losing momentum after rejoining and allowing Cyan Racing’s Thed Björk into second.
Girolami then led Björk for the opening five laps, which had been punctuated by a second lap safety car period when Marco Butti and John Filippi made contact under braking for the Variante Ascari, resulting in Filippi’s CUPRA being speared off the circuit and into the gravel, out of the race.
Racing resumed on lap three, and Comte soon closed in on Björk. Going into the first chicane on lap seven, Comte took the outside line, which became the inside for the second chicane, with the CUPRA emerging in front.
Comte then closed in on leader Girolami and going into the first chicane on lap nine he used the slipstream to his advantage and then tried to repeat the pass he made for second.
This time, Comte got a better exit from the chicane than Girolami and completed the pass for the lead around the Curva Grande.
Thereafter, Comte pulled clear of Girolami’s Hyundai and won the race by over a second from the BRC Racing driver.
Girolami had his hands full in the closing laps defending from Björk, who in turn was under pressure from Norbert Michelisz. In the end, the trio didn’t change order in the final laps, despite much pressure, and Girolami and Björk completed the podium, with Michelisz in fourth.
Montenegro was fifth, the Argentine dropping back in the early laps but holding the position after Michelisz got by on lap four, ahead of Cyan Racing’s Santiago Urrutia in sixth.
GOAT Racing’s Esteban Guerrieri came from 14th on the grid to seventh, ahead of team-mate Butti in eighth.
The top ten was completed by Cyan Racing duo Yann Ehrlacher and Ma Qing Hua, the latter benefitting when ALM Motorsport’s Leonel Pernía picked up a front-left puncture on the final lap.
BRC Racing’s Mikel Azcona started from the back of the grid due to an overnight engine change and the Spaniard was only able to recover to 11th, having lost out to Ma late on.
Front-left tyre punctures also curtailed the races of ALM’s Ruben Volt, who had run as high as tenth by lap nine before dropping down, and Felipe Fernández, who similarly lost a tenth-place with a puncture. MA:GP’s Viktor Andersson took the chequered flag in 14th but also suffered a puncture.
Ehrlacher continues to lead the drivers’ championship standings with 193 points, ahead of Guerrieri (177), Urrutia (166), Björk (163) and Michelisz (125) etc.
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 107 |  |
Aurélien COMTE | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 12 | 24:35.657 | 1:55.460 | 8 | |
| 2 | 129 |  |
Néstor GIROLAMI | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 12 | 1.446 | 1:55.772 | 1 | |
| 3 | 111 |  |
Thed BJÖRK | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 12 | 1.891 | 1:55.608 | 4 | |
| 4 | 105 |  |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 12 | 1.951 | 1:55.559 | 9 | |
| 5 | 123 | |
Ignacio MONTENEGRO | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 12 | 4.235 | 1:56.265 | 2 | |
| 6 | 112 |  |
Santiago URRUTIA | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 12 | 5.527 | 1:56.271 | 6 | |
| 7 | 186 | |
Esteban GUERRIERI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 12 | 7.766 | 1:56.236 | 14 | |
| 8 | 11 |  |
Marco BUTTI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 12 | 8.015 | 1:56.234 | 15 | |
| 9 | 168 | |
Yann EHRLACHER | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 12 | 8.244 | 1:56.112 | 7 | |
| 10 | 155 |  |
MA Qing Hua | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 12 | 14.134 | 1:56.197 | 13 | |
| 11 | 196 |  |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 12 | 15.031 | 1:55.850 | 18 | |
| 12 | 81 | |
Damiano REDUZZI | Team Trico WRT | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 12 | 21.051 | 1:56.634 | 16 | |
| 13 | 82 | |
Jacopo CIMENES | MM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 12 | 21.224 | 1:56.942 | 10 | |
| 14 | 10 | |
Viktor ANDERSSON | MA:GP | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 12 | 34.236 | 1:56.860 | 17 | |
| 15 | 44 | |
Leonel PERNÍA | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 11 | + 1 LAP | 1:56.722 | 12 | |
| 16 | 27 |  |
Ruben VOLT | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 11 | + 1 LAP | 1:56.003 | 5 | |
| 17 | 19 | |
Felipe FERNÁNDEZ Gil | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 10 | + 2 LAPS | 1:56.639 | 11 | |
| R | 127 | |
John FILIPPI | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 3 |