Race Report

Guerrieri increases WTCR lead with Zandvoort win

WTCR Race of Netherlands

Circuit Zandvoort, Netherlands

WTCR 2019, Round 4

Esteban Guerrieri took a brilliant second FIA – World Touring Car Cup victory of the year at Zandvoort to increase his lead at the head of the Drivers’ standings.

The Argentinian, whose win was the fifth of the year for the Honda Civic Type R TCR and for ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport, started from pole position on the partially-reversed Race-Two grid and resisted intense race-long pressure to take the chequered flag.

He added a determined eighth-place finish in Race Three from 10th on the grid to leave the Netherlands with an 11-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship.

Team-mate Nestor Girolami joined Esteban in the Q2 section of Sunday qualifying, but agonisingly missed out on 10th place – and reversed-grid pole – by just four thousandths of a second.

From 11th on the grid for both races, Bebu finished 10th and 14th; adding crucial scores for Münnich Motorsport and keeping them on top of the Teams’ standings by 38 points, while lying third in the Drivers’ Championship at the same time.

KCMG drivers Attila Tassi and Tiago Monteiro showed strong progress to close the gap to the front of the field overnight, but endured another day without a points-scoring finish.

Such was the closeness of the gaps in qualifying that, despite missing out on a Q2 spot by just 0.2 seconds, he started both of Sunday’s races from 21st place with Tiago two places further back.

Attila was eliminated on the opening lap of Race Two when he received a light tap from a rival at the fast Shievlak bend and spun into the gravel, but finished 23rd in Race Three. Tiago was 23rd and 19th.

The series continues next month at the legendary Nurburgring Nordschleife in Germany.

2019 WTCR Race of Netherlands
Honda Pro Racing / David Noels
2019 WTCR Race of Netherlands
Honda Pro Racing / David Noels
2019 WTCR Race of Netherlands
Honda Pro Racing / David Noels
Esteban Guerrieri

Esteban Guerrieri 86

“I’m leading the championship, which is great, and is thanks to a really amazing team effort on a weekend when we haven’t had the fastest car. We put everything together when it really counted; in Q2 this morning, got the reversed-grid pole and won the race, which helped us maximise what was possible. Winning here at Zandvoort is special for me because it’s a fantastic circuit, but it’s not somewhere I’d had many good results in the past. We need to work really hard to stay on top at the Nurburgring.”

ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport
Nestor Girolami

Nestor Girolami 29

“Sometimes you have good luck and sometimes you have bad luck and today I was unlucky by four thousandths of a second in Q2. That was the difference between the reversed-grid pole position that Esteban got an the 11th place I got. I scored some small points in Race Two, but at the start of Race Three I got hit hard from behind at the first corner and lost many positions, so the result is I’m now third in the championship and not where I started the weekend. I’m not impressed with that kind of racing and I think it’s something the officials need to start looking at very hard.”

ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport
Attila Tassi

Attila Tassi 9

“It’s been another tough day on a tough weekend. We worked hard overnight and I came into qualifying expecting to challenge for Q2. To miss it by only two tenths of a second isn’t normally too bad, but in WTCR, that puts you back in 21st because everyone is so closely-matched. Race Two I was hit by Tom Coronel and that was it, and in Race Three I had a bad understeer, which left it very difficult to attack the corners. I hope for better at the Nurburgring.”

KCMG
Tiago Monteiro

Tiago Monteiro 18

“I’m really pleased with the way the team has worked this weekend and by Race Three I had easily the best car I’d had all weekend. It’s just the normal way that when you start low down, it’s nearly impossible to make progress; especially here. Nurburgring will hopefully be a better track for us. I’ve had some good results in the past and there’s quite a big bank of data available to the Honda teams from what’s been done in WTCC and TCR there in the past, so that will all be very useful.”

KCMG
Dominik Greiner

Dominik Greiner

Team Manager

“The guys have done a tremendous job today. The compensation weight situation and some other things mean we haven’t had the fastest car, so we had to try and maximise the reversed-grid situation, and we did this very well with Esteban. We’ve now won five races; more than we did in the whole of last year, and we’re leading the Drivers’ and Teams’ championships as we come into our home race at the Nurburgring.”

ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport
Dario d’Esposito

Dario d'Esposito

Team Principal

“The results today don’t tell the true picture. Attila was only two tenths of a second off Q2, but this championship is so close that this means 21st instead, and when you’re starting down there, it’s so difficult to make progress. We hardly saw any real progress from anybody in the races, which proves how tough it is. We’ve definitely closed the gap to the fastest Hondas, but the compensation weight situation here means we’re two tenths of 10th, rather than two tenths off pole. We’ll work hard with the cars and drivers ahead of the Nurburgring to try and continue this progress.”

KCMG
Mads Fischer

Mads Fischer

TCR Project Leader, JAS Motorsport

“The Civic Type R TCR has now won five times in the opening four events of 2019 – one more win than it had in all of last season. It doesn’t matter what circumstances you throw at ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport; they just keep finding good solutions and scoring good points; and this is exactly what you need to win a championship. We’ve seen today some very good speed from other brands so we know the teams will have to work very hard to stay on top of the points table.”

JAS Motorsport
WTCR Race of Netherlands

Circuit Zandvoort, Netherlands

WTCR 2019, Round 4

Sunday 19 May 2019, 16:14 Europe/London
# Driver Num Nationality Nat. Total Points Pts. Team Constructor Constr. Time/Gap
1 Thed Björk 11 SWE 25 0 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co Lynk & Co 15 laps
2 Yann Ehrlacher 68 FRA 20 0 Cyan Performance Lynk & Co Lynk & Co +0.830
3 Norbert Michelisz 5 HUN 16 0 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai +2.337
4 Augusto Farfus 8 BRA 13 0 BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team Hyundai +2.995
5 Yvan Muller 100 FRA 11 0 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co Lynk & Co +3.658
6 Mikel Azcona 96 SPA 10 0 PWR Racing Cupra +4.120
7 Johan Kristoffersson 14 SWE 9 0 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Volkswagen +4.432
8 Esteban Guerrieri 86 ARG 8 0 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda +6.696
9 Gabriele Tarquini 1 ITA 7 0 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai +7.543
10 Rob Huff 12 GBR 6 0 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen +9.840
11 Nick Catsburg 88 NDL 5 0 BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team Hyundai +11.093
12 Aurélien Panis 21 FRA 4 0 Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing Audi +13.094
13 Mehdi Bennani 25 MAR 3 0 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen +13.328
14 Nestor Girolami 29 ARG 2 0 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda +13.558
15 Jean-Karl Vernay 69 FRA 1 0 Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi +15.591
16 Andy Priaulx 111 GBR 0 0 Cyan Performance Lynk & Co Lynk & Co +15.965
17 Frederic Vervisch 22 BEL 0 0 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi +16.121
18 Niels Langeveld 10 NDL 0 0 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi +16.847
19 Kevin Ceccon 31 ITA 0 0 Mulsanne Srl Alfa Romeo +17.537
20 Tiago Monteiro 18 POR 0 0 KCMG Honda +18.475
21 Tom Coronel 50 NDL 0 0 Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing Cupra +19.009
22 Qing Hua Ma 55 CHN 0 0 Mulsanne Srl Alfa Romeo +22.779
23 Attila Tassi 9 HUN 0 0 KCMG Honda +22.849
24 Daniel Haglof 37 SWE 0 0 PWR Racing Cupra +23.677
25 Gordon Shedden 52 GBR 0 0 Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi +29.621
NC Benjamin Leuchter 33 GER 0 0 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Volkswagen DNF
Sunday 19 May 2019, 13:09 Europe/London
# Driver Num Nationality Nat. Total Points Pts. Team Constructor Constr. Time/Gap
1 Esteban Guerrieri 86 ARG 25 0 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda 14 laps
2 Benjamin Leuchter 33 GER 20 0 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Volkswagen +0.263
3 Johan Kristoffersson 14 SWE 16 0 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Volkswagen +0.711
4 Nick Catsburg 88 NDL 13 0 BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team Hyundai +1.659
5 Mikel Azcona 96 SPA 11 0 PWR Racing Cupra +2.035
6 Augusto Farfus 8 BRA 10 0 BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team Hyundai +2.433
7 Norbert Michelisz 5 HUN 9 0 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai +5.379
8 Yann Ehrlacher 68 FRA 8 0 Cyan Performance Lynk & Co Lynk & Co +6.128
9 Yvan Muller 100 FRA 7 0 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co Lynk & Co +7.428
10 Nestor Girolami 29 ARG 6 0 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda +7.781
11 Rob Huff 12 GBR 5 0 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen +8.094
12 Thed Björk 11 SWE 4 0 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co Lynk & Co +8.656
13 Gabriele Tarquini 1 ITA 3 0 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai +9.247
14 Aurélien Panis 21 FRA 2 0 Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing Audi +9.884
15 Jean-Karl Vernay 69 FRA 1 0 Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi +11.118
16 Mehdi Bennani 25 MAR 0 0 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen +11.464
17 Niels Langeveld 10 NDL 0 0 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi +12.626
18 Andy Priaulx 111 GBR 0 0 Cyan Performance Lynk & Co Lynk & Co +13.267
19 Daniel Haglof 37 SWE 0 0 PWR Racing Cupra +13.734
20 Kevin Ceccon 31 ITA 0 0 Mulsanne Srl Alfa Romeo +14.327
21 Frederic Vervisch 22 BEL 0 0 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi +14.631
22 Gordon Shedden 52 GBR 0 0 Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi +17.185
23 Tiago Monteiro 18 POR 0 0 KCMG Honda +17.534
24 Tom Coronel 50 NDL 0 0 Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing Cupra +17.978
25 Qing Hua Ma 55 CHN 0 0 Mulsanne Srl Alfa Romeo +18.526
NC Attila Tassi 9 HUN 0 0 KCMG Honda DNF
Sunday 19 May 2019, 08:00 Europe/London
# Driver Num Nationality Nat. Total Team Constructor Constr. Time/Gap
1 Yvan Muller 100 FRA 5 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co Lynk & Co 1:44.154
2 Yann Ehrlacher 68 FRA 4 Cyan Performance Lynk & Co Lynk & Co +1:44.597
3 Thed Björk 11 SWE 3 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co Lynk & Co +1:44.656
4 Norbert Michelisz 5 HUN 2 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai +1:44.734
5 Augusto Farfus 8 BRA 1 BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team Hyundai +1:46.233
6 Mikel Azcona 96 SPA 0 PWR Racing Cupra +1:44.872
7 Nick Catsburg 88 NDL 0 BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team Hyundai +1:44.895
8 Johan Kristoffersson 14 SWE 0 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Volkswagen +1:44.997
9 Benjamin Leuchter 33 GER 0 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Volkswagen +1:45.005
10 Esteban Guerrieri 86 ARG 0 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda +1:45.081
11 Nestor Girolami 29 ARG 0 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda +1:45.085
12 Rob Huff 12 GBR 0 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen +1:45.214
13 Aurélien Panis 21 FRA 0 Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing Audi +1:45.398
14 Gabriele Tarquini 1 ITA 0 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai +1:45.441
15 Jean-Karl Vernay 69 FRA 0 Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi +1:45.455
16 Mehdi Bennani 25 MAR 0 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen +1:45.461
17 Andy Priaulx 111 GBR 0 Cyan Performance Lynk & Co Lynk & Co +1:45.462
18 Niels Langeveld 10 NDL 0 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi +1:45.509
19 Kevin Ceccon 31 ITA 0 Mulsanne Srl Alfa Romeo +1:45.516
20 Frederic Vervisch 22 BEL 0 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi +1:45.535
21 Attila Tassi 9 HUN 0 KCMG Honda +1:45.594
22 Daniel Haglof 37 SWE 0 PWR Racing Cupra +1:45.616
23 Tiago Monteiro 18 POR 0 KCMG Honda +1:45.791
24 Qing Hua Ma 55 CHN 0 Mulsanne Srl Alfa Romeo +1:45.797
25 Tom Coronel 50 NDL 0 Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing Cupra +1:45.871
26 Gordon Shedden 52 GBR 0 Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi +1:45.956
Saturday 18 May 2019, 14:10 Europe/London
# Driver Num Nationality Nat. Total Points Pts. Team Constructor Constr. Time/Gap
1 Thed Björk 11 SWE 25 0 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co Lynk & Co 12 laps
2 Yvan Muller 100 FRA 20 0 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co Lynk & Co +0.704
3 Mikel Azcona 96 SPA 16 0 PWR Racing Cupra +1.270
4 Johan Kristoffersson 14 SWE 13 0 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Volkswagen +3.062
5 Andy Priaulx 111 GBR 11 0 Cyan Performance Lynk & Co Lynk & Co +3.631
6 Mehdi Bennani 25 MAR 10 0 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen +4.227
7 Yann Ehrlacher 68 FRA 9 0 Cyan Performance Lynk & Co Lynk & Co +4.592
8 Benjamin Leuchter 33 GER 8 0 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Volkswagen +5.179
9 Frederic Vervisch 22 BEL 7 0 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi +5.870
10 Nick Catsburg 88 NDL 6 0 BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team Hyundai +5.984
11 Jean-Karl Vernay 69 FRA 5 0 Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi +6.525
12 Esteban Guerrieri 86 ARG 4 0 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda +6.768
13 Daniel Haglof 37 SWE 3 0 PWR Racing Cupra +7.167
14 Aurélien Panis 21 FRA 2 0 Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing Audi +9.185
15 Nestor Girolami 29 ARG 1 0 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda +9.460
16 Niels Langeveld 10 NDL 0 0 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi +9.939
17 Tom Coronel 50 NDL 0 0 Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing Cupra +10.892
18 Attila Tassi 9 HUN 0 0 KCMG Honda +13.074
19 Gordon Shedden 52 GBR 0 0 Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi +15.483
20 Kevin Ceccon 31 ITA 0 0 Mulsanne Srl Alfa Romeo +15.773
21 Tiago Monteiro 18 POR 0 0 KCMG Honda +16.946
22 Gabriele Tarquini 1 ITA 0 0 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai +17.397
23 Qing Hua Ma 55 CHN 0 0 Mulsanne Srl Alfa Romeo +17.503
NC Norbert Michelisz 5 HUN 0 0 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai DNF
NC Rob Huff 12 GBR 0 0 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen DNF
NC Augusto Farfus 8 BRA 0 0 BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team Hyundai DNF
Saturday 18 May 2019, 08:00 Europe/London
# Driver Num Nationality Nat. Total Team Constructor Constr. Time/Gap
1 Thed Björk 11 SWE 5 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co Lynk & Co 1:44.080
2 Yvan Muller 100 FRA 4 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co Lynk & Co +1:44.153
3 Andy Priaulx 111 GBR 3 Cyan Performance Lynk & Co Lynk & Co +1:44.196
4 Yann Ehrlacher 68 FRA 2 Cyan Performance Lynk & Co Lynk & Co +1:44.313
5 Mikel Azcona 96 SPA 1 PWR Racing Cupra +1:44.801
6 Benjamin Leuchter 33 GER 0 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Volkswagen +1:44.804
7 Johan Kristoffersson 14 SWE 0 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Volkswagen +1:44.810
8 Daniel Haglof 37 SWE 0 PWR Racing Cupra +1:44.856
9 Jean-Karl Vernay 69 FRA 0 Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi +1:44.867
10 Mehdi Bennani 25 MAR 0 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen +1:44.874
11 Nick Catsburg 88 NDL 0 BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team Hyundai +1:44.902
12 Frederic Vervisch 22 BEL 0 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi +1:44.960
13 Norbert Michelisz 5 HUN 0 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai +1:44.972
14 Nestor Girolami 29 ARG 0 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda +1:45.005
15 Rob Huff 12 GBR 0 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen +1:45.177
16 Esteban Guerrieri 86 ARG 0 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda +1:45.215
17 Aurélien Panis 21 FRA 0 Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing Audi +1:45.217
18 Augusto Farfus 8 BRA 0 BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team Hyundai +1:45.222
19 Niels Langeveld 10 NDL 0 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi +1:45.248
20 Gabriele Tarquini 1 ITA 0 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai +1:45.265
21 Tom Coronel 50 NDL 0 Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing Cupra +1:45.272
22 Attila Tassi 9 HUN 0 KCMG Honda +1:45.415
23 Qing Hua Ma 55 CHN 0 Mulsanne Srl Alfa Romeo +1:45.466
24 Gordon Shedden 52 GBR 0 Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi +1:45.728
25 Kevin Ceccon 31 ITA 0 Mulsanne Srl Alfa Romeo +1:45.793
26 Tiago Monteiro 18 POR 0 KCMG Honda +1:46.217
Driver Standings
Sunday, 19 May 2019
# Driver Num Nationality Nat. Points Pts. Team Constructor Constr.
1 Esteban GUERRIERI 86 ARG 161 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda
2 Thed BJöRK 11 SWE 150 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co Lynk & Co
3 Nestor GIROLAMI 29 ARG 135 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda
4 Norbert MICHELISZ 5 HUN 130 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai
5 Mikel AZCONA 96 SPA 120 PWR Racing Cupra
6 Yvan MULLER 100 FRA 108 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co Lynk & Co
7 Gabriele TARQUINI 1 ITA 106 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai
8 Yann EHRLACHER 68 FRA 88 Cyan Performance Lynk & Co Lynk & Co
9 Jean-Karl VERNAY 69 FRA 86 Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi
10 Nick CATSBURG 88 NDL 80 BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team Hyundai
11 Frederic VERVISCH 22 BEL 79 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi
12 Augusto FARFUS 8 BRA 75 BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team Hyundai
13 Qing Hua MA 55 CHN 70 Mulsanne Srl Alfa Romeo
14 Rob HUFF 12 GBR 55 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen
15 Johan KRISTOFFERSSON 14 SWE 47 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Volkswagen
16 Kevin CECCON 31 ITA 39 Mulsanne Srl Alfa Romeo
17 Aurélien PANIS 21 FRA 38 Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing Audi
18 Andy PRIAULX 111 GBR 37 Cyan Performance Lynk & Co Lynk & Co
19 Benjamin LEUCHTER 33 GER 36 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Volkswagen
20 Daniel HAGLOF 37 SWE 35 PWR Racing Cupra
21 Tom CORONEL 50 NDL 24 Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing Cupra
22 Niels LANGEVELD 10 NDL 23 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi
23 Gordon SHEDDEN 52 GBR 22 Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi
24 Tiago MONTEIRO 18 POR 20 KCMG Honda
25 Mehdi BENNANI 25 MAR 20 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen
26 Attila TASSI 9 HUN 16 KCMG Honda
2019 WTCR Race of Netherlands
Honda Pro Racing / David Noels
2019 WTCR Race of Netherlands
Honda Pro Racing / David Noels
2019 WTCR Race of Netherlands
Honda Pro Racing / David Noels
2019 WTCR Race of Netherlands
Honda Pro Racing / David Noels
2019 WTCR Race of Netherlands
Honda Pro Racing / David Noels