Race Report

Tassi leads Civic Type R TCR charge in season finale

Münnich Motorsport

28 Nov 2021

WTCR Race of Russia

Sochi Autodrom, Russia

WTCR 2021, Round 8

Attila Tassi produced two storming drives in the wet to end the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup season with a pair of top-10 finishes at Sochi.

The Hungarian lined up 13th on the grid for Race One and, despite a middling start, charged through the order in the second half of the race to claim seventh place.

Delighted with the performance of his ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport Civic Type R TCR, Attila was on form again in Race Two. Despite contact at the start undoing the ground he had gained with an excellent launch, the 22-year-old still ended the first lap seventh, up five places from his grid position.

He gained two more places when the two leaders made contact on a restart after a Safety Car period and, having briefly run in the podium positions, ended up in fourth.

Nestor Girolami led the middle part of Race Two in the sister ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Civic Type R TCR, but having to defend from cars with superior straightline speed and no compensation weight in particular meant his tyres began to go off in the second half of the race and he ended up seventh.

‘Bebu’, who got the maximum out of his package over a single lap on Saturday to qualify third, earlier recovered to his grid position of 11th in Race One having slipped back at the start.

With Tiago Monteiro already ruled out with a bacterial chest infection, Attila and Nestor were the only two Civic Type R TCR drivers to contest Race Two, with Esteban Guerrieri unable to take part after a heavy crash in Race One.

Esteban, who was still mathematically in the WTCR title race at the start of the day, made a strong start from fifth on the grid to run fourth through the opening two corners.

As he looked to challenge the car ahead for third place, the Argentinian had the door closed on him while on the outside of the track and, having run over the slippery, painted asphalt on the outside of the corner, his car was pitched off into the barriers towards the end of the fast Turn 3 left-hander.

He was unhurt and able to walk away from the car, but the impact signalled the end of both his title hopes and his raceday, with the damage from the crash not repairable in time for Race Two.

Esteban ended the season as the best-placed Honda Racing driver in sixth in the Championship, with ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport fourth in the Teams’ standings.

2021 WTCR Race of Russia

Honda Pro Racing / David Noels

Attila Tassi ⁹

"What a weekend to finish the season. Missing out on Q2 on Saturday was a bit disappointing, but I was really happy today when I saw the rain. After an OK start in Race One the first lap was just about keeping position, but after that I found more and more grip and really enjoyed the car and being able to hunt people down. I had an excellent start in Race Two but lost the momentum when someone closed the door on me, but even so I was seventh by the end of the lap. Afterwards, I was confident with where the grip was again. It’s a great way to end a hard season for myself, so thanks to the team and Honda; despite some difficulties, it was still a good year."

ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport

Nestor Girolami ²⁹

"I really enjoyed qualifying, where I was able to extract 100% of the car’s potential and show that the one-lap performance is there. During the races, in Race Two especially, I tried to keep my rivals behind but they were flying on the straights. That meant I was taking a lot out of the tyres and suddenly near the end they were gone. It was frustrating to see that difference in speed; you can see it visually in the dry, but I was surprised it was like this in the wet too. Thank you to the team and Honda for their support, and I’m wishing Tiago a speedy recovery - I feel sad that he was not here, I would have liked to be on track with him."

ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport

Esteban Guerrieri ⁸⁶

"It wasn’t a nice end to the year, unfortunately, but it could have been much worse had I been hit after my crash. I have to take the positives; these incidents are part of motorsport, but you are not always conscious of the risks until something like that happens. I think that, at this level, we are drivers who leave space for each other but the other car started the corner on the inside, so I went to the outside, and he finished it on the outside pushing me off. I’m sorry for the team that the car is in 100 pieces. Now, it’s good to have a rest, and to bring the season to an end with everything that can be learned for the future."

ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport

Dominik Greiner

Team Manager

"Unfortunately, this was not the end to the season that we were hoping for. The whole team was relieved to see Esteban walk away from such a big impact in Race One, and the fact that he is OK is more important than anything else. There was obviously no time to repair the car so, with Tiago - who we continue to send our best wishes to - unable to race, that meant our hopes were carried by Nestor and Attila. They both did a great job to make sure we ended the season with some success, with Attila making up nine places to finish fourth and Nestor bringing home a solid finish."

Münnich Motorsport

Mads Fischer

TCR Project Leader, JAS Motorsport

"The heavier rain today made it much more of a challenge for everyone, but it also meant we got to see the Honda Civic Type R TCR in its most competitive window all weekend. Attila looked really confident and that was rewarded with two strong results at the end of a hard season, which is a big positive to take from a tricky weekend, and although things were more difficult for Nestor he brought the car home to score good points both times. After his crash, it was great to see Esteban get out without assistance; it's testament to the build of the car that he was able to walk away unhurt from what was a nasty impact."

JAS Motorsport

28 Nov 2021

WTCR Race of Russia

Sochi Autodrom, Russia

WTCR 2021, Round 8

Sunday 28 Nov 2021, 12:03 Europe/London

#	Driver	Num	Nationality Nat.	Total	Points Pts.	Team	Constructor Constr.	Time/Gap
1	Rob Huff	79	GBR	25	25	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra	38'14.552
2	Frederic Vervisch	22	BEL	20	20	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi	+4.563
3	Nathanael Berthon	17	FRA	16	16	Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport	Audi	+5.643
4	Attila Tassi	9	HUN	13	13	ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport	Honda	+7.493
5	Jean-Karl Vernay	69	FRA	11	11	Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team	Hyundai	+9.291
6	Yann Ehrlacher	68	FRA	10	10	Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	+9.600
7	Nestor Girolami	29	ARG	9	9	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	+12.944
8	Norbert Michelisz	5	HUN	8	8	BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse	Hyundai	+14.070
9	Tom Coronel	32	NDL	7	7	Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport	Audi	+16.551
10	Luca Engstler	8	GER	6	6	Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team	Hyundai	+17.868
11	Thed Björk	11	SWE	5	5	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	+18.421
12	Jordi Gene	28	SPA	4	4	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra	+30.463
13	Kirill Ladygin	20	RUS	-	3	Lada Sport Rosneft	Lada	+37.541
14	Mikhail Mityaev	30	RUS	-	2	Lada Sport Rosneft	Lada	+42.790
NC	Gabriele Tarquini	3	ITA	-	0	BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse	Hyundai	+6 laps
NC	Mikel Azcona	96	SPA	-	0	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra	+9 laps
NC	Bence Boldizs	55	HUN	-	0	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra	+10 laps
NC	Yvan Muller	100	FRA	-	0	Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	+11 laps
NC	Santiago Urrutia	12	URU	-	0	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	+12 laps
NC	Gilles Magnus	16	BEL	-	0	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi	+-
NC	Esteban Guerrieri	86	ARG	-	0	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	+-

Sunday 28 Nov 2021, 09:53 Europe/London

#	Driver	Num	Nationality Nat.	Total	Points Pts.	Team	Constructor Constr.	Time/Gap
1	Mikel Azcona	96	SPA	25	25	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra	31'18.657
2	Jean-Karl Vernay	69	FRA	20	20	Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team	Hyundai	+1.403
3	Gilles Magnus	16	BEL	16	16	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi	+2.737
4	Nathanael Berthon	17	FRA	13	13	Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport	Audi	+4.492
5	Yann Ehrlacher	68	FRA	11	11	Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	+6.003
6	Frederic Vervisch	22	BEL	10	10	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi	+7.432
7	Attila Tassi	9	HUN	9	9	ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport	Honda	+7.500
8	Yvan Muller	100	FRA	8	8	Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	+8.316
9	Santiago Urrutia	12	URU	7	7	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	+9.961
10	Thed Björk	11	SWE	6	6	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	+13.554
11	Nestor Girolami	29	ARG	5	5	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	+14.116
12	Norbert Michelisz	5	HUN	4	4	BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse	Hyundai	+19.602
13	Luca Engstler	8	GER	3	3	Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team	Hyundai	+21.582
14	Gabriele Tarquini	3	ITA	2	2	BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse	Hyundai	+22.034
15	Jordi Gene	28	SPA	1	1	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra	+23.433
16	Tom Coronel	32	NDL	-	0	Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport	Audi	+24.781
17	Bence Boldizs	55	HUN	-	0	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra	+25.740
18	Kirill Ladygin	20	RUS	-	0	Lada Sport Rosneft	Lada	+34.196
19	Mikhail Mityaev	30	RUS	-	0	Lada Sport Rosneft	Lada	+39.983
20	Rob Huff	79	GBR	-	0	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra	+2 laps
NC	Esteban Guerrieri	86	ARG	-	0	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	DNF

Sunday 28 Nov 2021, 08:01 Europe/London

#	Driver	Num	Nationality Nat.	Total	Team	Constructor Constr.	Time/Gap
1	Yvan Muller	100	FRA	10	Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	2'29.624
2	Mikel Azcona	96	SPA	8	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra	2'29.972
3	Nestor Girolami	29	ARG	3	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	2'30.069
4	Nathanael Berthon	17	FRA	3	Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport	Audi	2'30.285
5	Yann Ehrlacher	68	FRA	1	Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	2'31.887
6	Esteban Guerrieri	86	ARG	-	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	2'30.970
7	Rob Huff	79	GBR	2	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra	2'31.085
8	Jean-Karl Vernay	69	FRA	-	Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team	Hyundai	2'31.112
9	Frederic Vervisch	22	BEL	-	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi	2'31.221
10	Gilles Magnus	16	BEL	-	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi	2'31.654
11	Santiago Urrutia	12	URU	3	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	2'31.819
12	Norbert Michelisz	5	HUN	-	BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse	Hyundai	2'32.511
13	Attila Tassi	9	HUN	-	ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport	Honda	2'32.573
14	Jordi Gene	28	SPA	-	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra	2'32.741
15	Luca Engstler	8	GER	-	Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team	Hyundai	2'32.762
16	Gabriele Tarquini	3	ITA	-	BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse	Hyundai	2'32.811
17	Tom Coronel	32	NDL	-	Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport	Audi	2'32.964
18	Thed Björk	11	SWE	-	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co	2'33.135
19	Bence Boldizs	55	HUN	-	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra	2'33.781
20	Kirill Ladygin	20	RUS	-	Lada Sport Rosneft	Lada	2'34.448
21	Mikhail Mityaev	30	RUS	-	Lada Sport Rosneft	Lada	2'36.019
NC	Tiago Monteiro	18	POR	-	ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport	Honda	DNF

Driver Standings

Sunday, 28 Nov 2021

#	Driver	Num	Nationality Nat.	Points Pts.	Team	Constructor Constr.
1	Yann EHRLACHER	68	FRA	223	Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co
2	Frederic VERVISCH	22	BEL	195	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi
3	Jean-Karl VERNAY	69	FRA	177	Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team	Hyundai
4	Yvan MULLER	100	FRA	169	Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co
5	Santiago URRUTIA	12	URU	167	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co
6	Esteban GUERRIERI	86	ARG	164	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda
7	Mikel AZCONA	96	SPA	158	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra
8	Norbert MICHELISZ	5	HUN	146	BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse	Hyundai
9	Thed BJöRK	11	SWE	141	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Lynk & Co
10	Gilles MAGNUS	16	BEL	139	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi
11	Nestor GIROLAMI	29	ARG	131	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda
12	Gabriele TARQUINI	3	ITA	114	BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse	Hyundai
13	Nathanael BERTHON	17	FRA	114	Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport	Audi
14	Attila TASSI	9	HUN	96	ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport	Honda
15	Luca ENGSTLER	8	GER	86	Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team	Hyundai
16	Tom CORONEL	32	NDL	83	Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport	Audi
17	Tiago MONTEIRO	18	POR	75	ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport	Honda
18	Rob HUFF	79	GBR	73	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra
19	Jordi GENE	28	SPA	10	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra
20	Bence BOLDIZS	55	HUN	9	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra
21	Jessica BACKMAN	26	SWE	2	Target Competition	Hyundai
22	Andreas BACKMAN	19	SWE	1	Target Competition	Hyundai