Felipe Fernández finally scores maiden TCR Europe win at Spa-Francorchamps

RC2 Racing’s Felipe Fernández finally converted a dominant pole position into a maiden victory in the TCR Europe series at Spa-Francorchamps, finishing ahead of Monlau Motorsport’s Viktor Andersson.

Having secured his third consecutive pole at the Belgian circuit, Fernández went on to secure a dominant lights-to-flag victory for his first-ever win in TCR Europe, despite light-race intensifying drizzle making conditions tricky.

For much of the race, Monlau Motorsport’s Andersson was a distant second, coming under heavy pressure from ALM Motorsport’s Mike Halder, the Swede having jumped ahead of his German rival at the start.

Halder kept the pressure on Andersson for much of the race, but the battling allowed Monlau’s Marco Butti to remain close.

On the final lap, Butti made his move on Halder for the final podium position at Les Combes, then held the position for the remaining half a lap.

Halder took the chequered flag in fourth, but the German has assumed the lead of the standings, after erstwhile points leader Alex Ley crashed out in qualifying and his entry was withdrawn from the event due to the BRC Racing team being unable to repair his Hyundai in time for either of the weekend’s races.

PMA Motorsport’s Nicolas Taylor was fifth, a more distant near-eight seconds adrift of the leader, ahead of Monlau’s Adam Shepherd in sixth.

ALM Motorsport’s Ruben Volt was seventh, the Estonian running as high as fourth in the first half of the race before falling back in the second half, having lost out to Butti on lap six after sliding on oil laid down by Gabriele Covini’s ailing car at Eau Rouge. Volt’s start, however, is being investigated by the stewards post-race, as he launched from seventh to challenge for third at Turn 1.

PMA Motorsport’s Nicola Baldan was eighth, whilst Solite Indigo Racing’s Junesung Park and Aikoa Racing’s Santiago Concepción completed the top ten.

Three drivers who started failed to take the finish: Squadra Martino’s Tiago Pernía pulled off the circuit after three laps with an issue on his Honda, BRC Racing’s Covini retired due to an issue on his some-billowing car after five laps and RC2 Racing’s Victor Fernández stopped after six laps.

Race two is scheduled to get underway at 10:35 CEST (09:35 BST) on Sunday.

Race result

POS	NO	CL	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	BEST	GD
1	19			Felipe FERNÁNDEZ Gil	Auto Club RC2 Valles	Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR	11	27:44.221	2:29.705	1
2	10			Viktor ANDERSSON	Monlau Motorsport	CUPRA Leon VZ TCR	11	0.930	2:30.159	3
3	111			Marco BUTTI	Monlau Motorsport	CUPRA Leon VZ TCR	11	1.842	2:29.644	4
4	7			Mike HALDER	ALM Motorsport	Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR	11	2.090	2:30.005	2
5	17			Nicolas TAYLOR	PMA Motorsport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR II	11	7.996	2:29.973	5
6	117			Adam SHEPHERD	Monlau Motorsport	CUPRA Leon VZ TCR	11	9.253	2:30.756	6
7	27			Ruben VOLT	ALM Motorsport	Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR	11	10.024	2:29.860	7
8	8			Nicola BALDAN	PMA Motorsport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR II	11	11.407	2:30.938	9
9	97			Junesung PARK	Solite Indigo Racing	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	11	17.120	2:30.421	8
10	33			Santiago CONCEPCIÓN	Aikoa Racing	Audi RS3 LMS TCR II	11	19.497	2:29.756	19
11	69			Max HART	ALM Motorsport	Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR	11	23.660	2:30.638	15
12	18			Michael MARKUSSEN	Auto Club RC2 Valles	Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR	11	24.131	2:31.047	13
13	87			Junui PARK	Solite Indigo Racing	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	11	26.798	2:30.529	11
14	22			Giacomo PRANDELLI	Aikoa Racing	Audi RS3 LMS TCR II	11	31.047	2:30.502	16
15	34			Stian PAULSEN	Stian Paulsen Racing	Audi RS3 LMS TCR II	11	32.444	2:31.423	17
16	11			Jac CONSTABLE	JH Racing	Audi RS3 LMS TCR II	11	32.834	2:32.582	21
17	37			Victor CHAN Chun Leung	Auto Club RC2 Valles	Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR	11	33.620	2:31.496	18
18	9			Tom CHIAPPE	SP Compétition	CUPRA Leon VZ TCR	11	57.878	2:33.356	20
19	72			Sandro PELATTI	SP Compétition	CUPRA Leon VZ TCR	11	1:04.535	2:33.125	23
R	74			Victor WEYRICH	Herrero Racing	CUPRA Leon VZ TCR	8	DNF	2:30.947	14
R	73			Victor FERNÁNDEZ Gil	Auto Club RC2 Valles	Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR	6	DNF	2:32.648	22
R	12			Gabriele COVINI	BRC Racing Team	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	5	DNF	2:30.490	10
R	85			Tiago PERNÍA	Squadra Martino	Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR	3	DNF	2:31.626	12
NS	76			Alex LEY	BRC Racing Team	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	–	DNS	N/A	–