BRC Racing’s Néstor Girolami romped to victory in the second FIA TCR World Tour race at The Bend Motorsport Park, after a strong start saw him quickly dispatch pole-sitter Aurélien Comte.
Comte had the reverse-grid pole after he qualified his SP Compétition CUPRA in tenth on Saturday, but the Frenchman immediately came under attack from the fast-starting Girolami at the start of the race.
Girolami went around the outside of Comte at the first corner, and thereafter the Hyundai racer pulled comfortably clear, as Comte delayed the rest of the pack on the opening lap.
GOAT Racing’s Esteban Guerrieri dived inside Comte at the final corner at the end of the lap to take second, with team-mate Ignacio Montenegro and HMO Customer Racing’s Josh Buchan also following through along the back straight.
Comte reclaimed fourth from Buchan a few corners later, and then the race stabilised with few changes among the top places.
Girolami went on to win by over a second from Guerrieri, whilst Montenegro made it an all-Argentine podium in third, his second podium of the season.
Comte held on to fourth, whilst Buchan was the leading TCR Australia driver in fifth for the second race in a row, giving the reigning TCR Australia champion the lead in the Australian series.
Yann Ehrlacher was the leading Cyan Racing driver in sixth, having swapped places with team-mate Thed Björk on the sixth lap, the Swede going on to finish in seventh.
Ma Qing Hua had to defend eighth from Mikel Azcona for much of the second half of the race, the duo enjoying a fierce battle for the position. In the end Ma prevailed, as Azcona allowed BRC team-mate Norbert Michelisz into ninth on the final lap, leaving Azcona to complete the top ten.
Cyan Racing’s Santiago Urrutia was 11th, the Uruguayan failing to make any inroads during the race from his sixth-row starting spot.
Ehrlacher continues to lead the drivers’ standings with 296 points, ahead of Guerrieri (260), Björk (243), Urrutia (225) and Michelisz (198).
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 129 |  |
Néstor GIROLAMI | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 13 | 25:51.4161 | 1:57.610 | 2 | |
| 2 | 186 | |
Esteban GUERRIERI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 13 | 1.421 | 1:58.603 | 3 | |
| 3 | 123 | |
Ignacio MONTENEGRO | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 13 | 3.135 | 1:58.770 | 5 | |
| 4 | 107 |  |
Aurélien COMTE | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 13 | 3.837 | 1:58.629 | 1 | |
| 5 | 30 |  |
Josh BUCHAN | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 13 | 5.222 | 1:58.610 | 7 | |
| 6 | 168 | |
Yann EHRLACHER | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 13 | 5.631 | 1:58.552 | 8 | |
| 7 | 111 |  |
Thed BJÖRK | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 13 | 6.206 | 1:58.750 | 6 | |
| 8 | 155 |  |
MA Qing Hua | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 13 | 6.968 | 1:58.566 | 4 | |
| 9 | 105 |  |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 13 | 9.324 | 1:58.532 | 9 | |
| 10 | 196 |  |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 13 | 9.958 | 1:58.369 | 10 | |
| 11 | 112 |  |
Santiago URRUTIA | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 13 | 10.939 | 1:58.820 | 11 | |
| 12 | 5 | |
Ryan MACMILLAN | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 13 | 13.500 | 1:58.896 | 12 | |
| 13 | 210 | |
Zac SOUTAR | Tufflift Racing TSM | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 13 | 16.384 | 1:59.083 | 16 | |
| 14 | 233 | |
Jordan COX | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Peugeot 308 P51 TCR | 13 | 26.368 | 2:00.108 | 17 | |
| 15 | 281 |  |
LO Sze Ho | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 13 | 38.833 | 2:00.041 | 15 | |
| 16 | 22 | |
Iain MCDOUGALL | Challenge Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 13 | 43.585 | 2:01.253 | 18 | |
| R | 74 | |
Brad HARRIS | Exclusive Switchboards | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 6 | DNF | 1:59.824 | 14 | |
| R | 36 | |
Cody BURCHER | Ashley Seward Motorsport | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 1 | DNF | N/A | 13 |