Race Report

Girolami puts Civic Type R TCR on top of the world

28 Apr 2019

WTCR Race of Hungary

Hungaroring, Hungary

WTCR 2019, Round 2

Honda Civic Type R TCR driver Nestor Girolami blasted into the lead of the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup with a sensational wet-weather victory – his second of the weekend – at the Hungaroring on Sunday.

The Argentinian, who was taking part in only his second WTCR event, started his ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport car sixth on Race Two’s partially-reversed grid, but made an incredible start to move up to second within three corners.

After snatching the lead before the end of the first lap, he was able to control the pace to claim the top spot.

He added sixth place in the final race of the day to end the weekend with a 10-point lead over team-mate Esteban Guerrieri at the head of the Drivers’ points table, while Münnich Motorsport are 58 points clear in the Teams’ title race.

Team-mate Esteban Guerrieri was an excellent second-fastest in the morning qualifying session, placing him ninth on the Race Two grid, but the Marrakech race winner survived a bruising encounter to finish fifth.

He led the opening stages of Race Three, but dropped to third after suffering an electrical issue at one-third distance that caused his engine to bog down momentarily.

A broken steering arm – a likely legacy of damage sustained during Race Two – caused his retirement with a handful of laps remaining.

KCMG’s Attila Tassi played a starring role in the wet Race Two at his home circuit. Starting 17th, he charged through the field to finish a career-best eighth.

His 15th-place finish in Race Three ensured he scored points in each of the weekend’s three events for the first time in his short WTCR career.

Team-mate Tiago Monteiro qualified 21st and was on the receiving end of a major hit on the first lap of Race Two, which damaged his car and put him out.

From the same position on the dry Race Three grid, he progressed to 17th by the chequered flag.

Tiago and Attila are 16th and 18th in the Drivers’ Championship with KCMG ninth in the Teams’ points.

The next round of the WTCR takes place at the Slovakiaring near Bratislava on May 10-12.

2019 WTCR Race of Hungary

Honda Pro Racing / David Noels

Nestor Girolami ²⁹

“It was a fantastic weekend; couldn’t have been much better. A win and the championship lead; just amazing. For the second race I started sixth and couldn’t imagine I would be in the lead by the end of the first lap. I’m sorry for Esteban because he deserved to win the last race, but that’s motorsport. Thank you to the team, who did a fantastic job, and to Honda Racing for a fantastic car.”

ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport

Esteban Guerrieri ⁸⁶

“We’re leading the Teams’ Championship and I’m second in the Drivers’ points with Bebu leading, so it’s been another very good for us overall. Personally, we did a good job in a very tight qualifying session to start second and in Race Two in the wet, I probably had the most intense experience I’ve had in a racing car. I didn’t want to break my car so I tried to be cautious, but I still got hit so many times on the side and the rear, so I was very lucky to finish, but I was worried about the damage to my car, and it’s probably this that caused my steering to break in Race Three, which is a shame, because I’d made a great start and was leading before the little glitch.”

ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport

Attila Tassi ⁹

“I’m very happy with the results of today and the whole weekend. Seventeenth was not as good as I’d hoped for in qualifying, but it was still my best in the WTCR, but to come up to eighth in Race Two today was really fantastic. Racing in the half-wet conditions was very good for me because I have raced here so much, I know how to maximise the grip in those conditions. Then two more points in the dry last race finished off a good day.”

KCMG

Tiago Monteiro ¹⁸

“A tough day to end a tough weekend. We didn’t perform as we wanted to in qualifying, and this championship is so close between all the cars that if you’re not perfect, you’re outside the top 15. Once you’re down in the pack, its always going to be tough to make progress, but in the wet race today I was pretty appalled by the driving standards; there’s just no respect down there. Our task is now to get ourselves qualifying near the front so we can have a better quality of racing.”

KCMG

Dominik Greiner

Team Manager

“It’s been another amazing day on an amazing weekend; nearly a perfect one, in fact. Bebu’s done an incredible job all weekend and so has Esteban, so it’s very unfortunate for him to have the couple of issues in the last race that put him out. The engineers and mechanics have prepared the cars fantastically well and we’re extremely well-organised as a team. We’re one-two in the Drivers’ points for the first time and have increased our Teams’ Championship lead so we’re all very happy indeed.”

ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport

Dario d'Esposito

Team Principal

“Attila put on a very impressive performance today. In the wet race he finished nine places higher than he started and finished eighth. He was aggressive, but not too aggressive and showed some much more experienced drivers that he’s here to challenge them. Tiago started down in the pack, had a big hit that put him off the track on the first lap of race two, and didn’t finish. In the dry third race, progress was always going to be tough, so we need to eliminate the need to progress by doing a better job in qualifying. If you qualify fifth, you probably finish fifth, so this is our target.”

KCMG

Mads Fischer

TCR Project Leader, JAS Motorsport

“It’s been a great day. Bebu won and he and the Münnich team lead the Drivers’ and Teams’ points. Esteban unfortunately had an electrical issue that caused him to slow down and lose the lead and then another issue that caused his retirement, but he was fast and will continue to be fast at the coming races, I’m sure. KCMG had a tough weekend and we will work to understand why so they can hopefully have a much stronger performance in Slovakia.”

JAS Motorsport

28 Apr 2019

WTCR Race of Hungary

Hungaroring, Hungary

WTCR 2019, Round 2

Sunday 28 Apr 2019, 16:43 Europe/London

#	Driver	Num	Nationality Nat.	Total	Team	Constructor Constr.	Time/Gap
1	Gabriele Tarquini	1	ITA	25	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai	17 laps
2	Norbert Michelisz	5	HUN	20	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai	+0.739
3	Yann Ehrlacher	68	FRA	16	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	+1.535
4	Mikel Azcona	96	SPA	13	PWR Racing	Cupra	+1.785
5	Thed Björk	11	SWE	11	Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	+2.112
6	Nestor Girolami	29	ARG	10	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	+2.862
7	Rob Huff	12	GBR	9	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport	Volkswagen	+3.051
8	Augusto Farfus	8	BRA	8	BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team	Hyundai	+3.721
9	Nick Catsburg	88	NDL	7	BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team	Hyundai	+5.770
10	Jean-Karl Vernay	69	FRA	6	Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport	Audi	+6.582
11	Aurélien Panis	21	FRA	5	Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing	Audi	+7.351
12	Frederic Vervisch	22	BEL	4	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi	+8.656
13	Tom Coronel	50	NDL	3	Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing	Cupra	+10.748
14	Attila Tassi	9	HUN	2	KCMG	Honda	+12.549
15	Mehdi Bennani	25	MAR	1	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport	Volkswagen	+14.107
16	Tiago Monteiro	18	POR	0	KCMG	Honda	+14.662
17	Benjamin Leuchter	33	GER	0	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen	Volkswagen	+14.862
18	Niels Langeveld	10	NDL	0	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi	+18.418
19	Qing Hua Ma	55	CHN	0	Mulsanne Srl	Alfa Romeo	+19.932
20	Andy Priaulx	111	GBR	0	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	+20.175
21	Gordon Shedden	52	GBR	0	Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport	Audi	+21.292
22	Johan Kristoffersson	14	SWE	0	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen	Volkswagen	+21.547
23	Tamas Tenke	23	HUN	0	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra	+22.917
24	Daniel Haglof	37	SWE	0	PWR Racing	Cupra	+23.826
NC	Kevin Ceccon	31	ITA	0	Mulsanne Srl	Alfa Romeo	DNF
NC	Esteban Guerrieri	86	ARG	0	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	DNF
NC	Yvan Muller	100	FRA	0	Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	DNF

Sunday 28 Apr 2019, 15:27 Europe/London

#	Driver	Num	Nationality Nat.	Total	Team	Constructor Constr.	Time/Gap
1	Nestor Girolami	29	ARG	25	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	12 laps
2	Jean-Karl Vernay	69	FRA	20	Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport	Audi	+2.529
3	Daniel Haglof	37	SWE	16	PWR Racing	Cupra	+3.507
4	Mikel Azcona	96	SPA	13	PWR Racing	Cupra	+5.260
5	Esteban Guerrieri	86	ARG	11	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	+12.822
6	Yvan Muller	100	FRA	10	Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	+14.721
7	Rob Huff	12	GBR	9	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport	Volkswagen	+15.245
8	Attila Tassi	9	HUN	8	KCMG	Honda	+15.765
9	Augusto Farfus	8	BRA	7	BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team	Hyundai	+18.979
10	Nick Catsburg	88	NDL	6	BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team	Hyundai	+19.522
11	Qing Hua Ma	55	CHN	5	Mulsanne Srl	Alfa Romeo	+19.751
12	Benjamin Leuchter	33	GER	4	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen	Volkswagen	+20.676
13	Aurélien Panis	21	FRA	3	Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing	Audi	+21.739
14	Tom Coronel	50	NDL	2	Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing	Cupra	+24.699
15	Frederic Vervisch	22	BEL	1	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi	+25.086
16	Kevin Ceccon	31	ITA	0	Mulsanne Srl	Alfa Romeo	+36.000
17	Gabriele Tarquini	1	ITA	0	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai	+1 lap
18	Tamas Tenke	23	HUN	0	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra	+1 lap
NC	Gordon Shedden	52	GBR	0	Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport	Audi	DNF
NC	Niels Langeveld	10	NDL	0	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi	DNF
NC	Norbert Michelisz	5	HUN	0	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai	DNF
NC	Yann Ehrlacher	68	FRA	0	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	DNF
NC	Thed Björk	11	SWE	0	Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	DNF
NC	Andy Priaulx	111	GBR	0	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	DNF
NC	Tiago Monteiro	18	POR	0	KCMG	Honda	DNF
NC	Johan Kristoffersson	14	SWE	0	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen	Volkswagen	DNF
NC	Mehdi Bennani	25	MAR	0	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport	Volkswagen	DNF

Sunday 28 Apr 2019, 10:42 Europe/London

#	Driver	Num	Nationality Nat.	Total	Team	Constructor Constr.	Time/Gap
1	Norbert Michelisz	5	HUN	5	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai	1:52.784
2	Esteban Guerrieri	86	ARG	4	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	+1:52.792
3	Yann Ehrlacher	68	FRA	3	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	+1:52.824
4	Gabriele Tarquini	1	ITA	2	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai	+1:52.907
5	Nestor Girolami	29	ARG	1	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	+No time
6	Mikel Azcona	96	SPA	0	PWR Racing	Cupra	+1:52.733
7	Thed Björk	11	SWE	0	Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	+1:52.742
8	Augusto Farfus	8	BRA	0	BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team	Hyundai	+1:52.743
9	Daniel Haglof	37	SWE	0	PWR Racing	Cupra	+1:52.772
10	Jean-Karl Vernay	69	FRA	0	Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport	Audi	+1:52.861
11	Rob Huff	12	GBR	0	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport	Volkswagen	+1:52.885
12	Andy Priaulx	111	GBR	0	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	+1:52.948
13	Nick Catsburg	88	NDL	0	BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team	Hyundai	+1:53.118
14	Aurélien Panis	21	FRA	0	Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing	Audi	+1:53.168
15	Yvan Muller	100	FRA	0	Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	+1:53.271
16	Tom Coronel	50	NDL	0	Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing	Cupra	+1:53.293
17	Attila Tassi	9	HUN	0	KCMG	Honda	+1:53.337
18	Mehdi Bennani	25	MAR	0	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport	Volkswagen	+1:53.408
19	Frederic Vervisch	22	BEL	0	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi	+1:53.426
20	Benjamin Leuchter	33	GER	0	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen	Volkswagen	+1:53.563
21	Tiago Monteiro	18	POR	0	KCMG	Honda	+1:53.601
22	Johan Kristoffersson	14	SWE	0	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen	Volkswagen	+1:53.629
23	Niels Langeveld	10	NDL	0	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi	+1:53.695
24	Kevin Ceccon	31	ITA	0	Mulsanne Srl	Alfa Romeo	+1:53.954
25	Gordon Shedden	52	GBR	0	Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport	Audi	+1:54.215
26	Qing Hua Ma	55	CHN	0	Mulsanne Srl	Alfa Romeo	+1:54.292
27	Tamas Tenke	23	HUN	0	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra	+1:55.276

Saturday 27 Apr 2019, 15:35 Europe/London

#	Driver	Num	Nationality Nat.	Total	Team	Constructor Constr.	Time/Gap
1	Nestor Girolami	29	ARG	25	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	12 laps
2	Yvan Muller	100	FRA	20	Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	+0.475
3	Esteban Guerrieri	86	ARG	16	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	+0.926
4	Jean-Karl Vernay	69	FRA	13	Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport	Audi	+1.846
5	Aurélien Panis	21	FRA	11	Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing	Audi	+2.265
6	Frederic Vervisch	22	BEL	10	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi	+2.851
7	Thed Björk	11	SWE	9	Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	+3.446
8	Johan Kristoffersson	14	SWE	8	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen	Volkswagen	+4.038
9	Augusto Farfus	8	BRA	7	BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team	Hyundai	+4.907
10	Norbert Michelisz	5	HUN	6	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai	+5.259
11	Mikel Azcona	96	SPA	5	PWR Racing	Cupra	+8.867
12	Daniel Haglof	37	SWE	4	PWR Racing	Cupra	+11.562
13	Andy Priaulx	111	GBR	3	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	+13.175
14	Gabriele Tarquini	1	ITA	2	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai	+13.762
15	Rob Huff	12	GBR	1	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport	Volkswagen	+15.303
16	Attila Tassi	9	HUN	0	KCMG	Honda	+15.871
17	Mehdi Bennani	25	MAR	0	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport	Volkswagen	+17.004
18	Nick Catsburg	88	NDL	0	BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team	Hyundai	+17.295
19	Benjamin Leuchter	33	GER	0	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen	Volkswagen	+17.654
20	Tom Coronel	50	NDL	0	Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing	Cupra	+18.294
21	Niels Langeveld	10	NDL	0	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi	+18.514
22	Tiago Monteiro	18	POR	0	KCMG	Honda	+18.819
23	Kevin Ceccon	31	ITA	0	Mulsanne Srl	Alfa Romeo	+19.064
24	Tamas Tenke	23	HUN	0	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra	+31.037
25	Qing Hua Ma	55	CHN	0	Mulsanne Srl	Alfa Romeo	+1:16.834
NC	Gordon Shedden	52	GBR	0	Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport	Audi	DNF
NC	Yann Ehrlacher	68	FRA	0	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	DNF

Saturday 27 Apr 2019, 11:48 Europe/London

#	Driver	Num	Nationality Nat.	Total	Team	Constructor Constr.	Time/Gap
1	Nestor Girolami	29	ARG	5	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	1:52.586
2	Yvan Muller	100	FRA	4	Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	+1:52.757
3	Esteban Guerrieri	86	ARG	3	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	+1:52.893
4	Aurélien Panis	21	FRA	2	Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing	Audi	+1:52.955
5	Yann Ehrlacher	68	FRA	1	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	+1:53.042
6	Thed Björk	11	SWE	0	Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	+1:53.065
7	Johan Kristoffersson	14	SWE	0	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen	Volkswagen	+1:53.158
8	Jean-Karl Vernay	69	FRA	0	Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport	Audi	+1:53.217
9	Augusto Farfus	8	BRA	0	BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team	Hyundai	+1:53.267
10	Frederic Vervisch	22	BEL	0	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi	+1:53.274
11	Daniel Haglof	37	SWE	0	PWR Racing	Cupra	+1:53.286
12	Mehdi Bennani	25	MAR	0	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport	Volkswagen	+1:53.289
13	Norbert Michelisz	5	HUN	0	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai	+1:53.290
14	Gabriele Tarquini	1	ITA	0	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai	+1:53.298
15	Andy Priaulx	111	GBR	0	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	+1:53.397
16	Mikel Azcona	96	SPA	0	PWR Racing	Cupra	+1:52.486
17	Rob Huff	12	GBR	0	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport	Volkswagen	+1:53.496
18	Attila Tassi	9	HUN	0	KCMG	Honda	+1:53.548
19	Kevin Ceccon	31	ITA	0	Mulsanne Srl	Alfa Romeo	+1:53.659
20	Nick Catsburg	88	NDL	0	BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team	Hyundai	+1:53.690
21	Qing Hua Ma	55	CHN	0	Mulsanne Srl	Alfa Romeo	+1:53.780
22	Niels Langeveld	10	NDL	0	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi	+1:53.845
23	Tiago Monteiro	18	POR	0	KCMG	Honda	+1:53.903
24	Gordon Shedden	52	GBR	0	Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport	Audi	+1:54.048
25	Benjamin Leuchter	33	GER	0	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen	Volkswagen	+1:54.078
26	Tom Coronel	50	NDL	0	Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing	Cupra	+1:54.213
27	Tamas Tenke	23	HUN	0	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra	+1:57.067