• Ehrlacher takes win and second place while Thompson scores first podium
  • Three podiums for Honda Civic Type R TCR drivers
  • Ehrlacher leads Drivers’ standings
  • ALL-INKL.com Münnich Motorsport lead Teams’ standings

 

Yann Ehrlacher and ALL-INKL.com Münnich Motorsport lead the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup after an ultra-successful weekend at Zandvoort, Netherlands.

After winning on Sunday, Yann and his team-mate James Thompson finished second and third in Monday’s second race and scored more vital points in Race Three.

After morning qualifying, it was British driver James who took the reversed-grid pole position for Race Two in his Honda Civic Type R TCR and ran second for most of the race, which was interrupted by the safety car.

Despite making repeated attempts to take the lead, he couldn’t quite make it and instead offered Yann the runner-up spot on the final lap.

James’s third place was his first podium finish on the World Stage since claiming Honda’s inaugural World Touring Car win at Imola in 2008.

Boutsen Ginion Racing’s Tom Coronel made great progress in his race, making up an impressive 10 places from his qualifying spot to cross the line in a well-earned 14th position.

Esteban Guerrieri and Benjamin Lessennes were embroiled in the midfield battles; Argentinian driver Esteban taking seventh and Belgian Benjamin 12th.

The final race of the weekend was slightly tougher for the Honda teams, with Tom and Benjamin both forced to pit on the opening lap with damage. Tom’s race was over while Benjamin rejoined for some some additional exploratory laps.

After a bruising first lap, the order settled; Esteban finishing as the highest-placed Civic Type R TCR driver in fourth. Yann and James came home sixth and ninth to make it six points finishes out of six for the Münnich team.

Esteban and James have both moved up in the Drivers’ standings to lie seventh and 14th. Benjamin and Tom are 16th and 18th while Boutsen Ginion Racing are eighth in the Teams’ points.

There now follows a five-week break in the WTCR calendar until the Race of Portugal in Vila Real on 23-24 June.

Yann Ehrlacher

Yann Ehrlacher 68

“It’s a very good place to be at the front of the standings, although of course there’s still a very long way to go so I don’t want to be focused too much on the championship. We will need to score as many points as possible like we did this weekend, so my focus is on maximising every weekend. We’re all working so hard for this, and to have a double podium this weekend is fantastic. Honestly I’ve never had such a good atmosphere in a racing team and that’s so important and we’re all helping each other and working together, and I must say thanks to James for helping me in race two this morning. The car was great all weekend and we can be very pleased with this result.”

ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport
James Thompson

James Thompson 15

“We're really very, very happy with Race Two this morning – I’m overjoyed to be on the podium. It’s been a little while since my last podium with Honda and I’ve got a lot greyer in that time! That feeling is part of the reason why I wanted to come back and do these race weekends. We’re all a really great team here and the guys are fighting for the championship, and I’ll always do what I can to help and to contribute to that, and I leave here feeling very pleased.”

ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport
Esteban Guerrieri

Esteban Guerrieri 86

"It's been a tough day. On race pace we were quite good in Race Two. Our strength is in the corners but we lose a little down the straights, and when you're in the pack it's very hard to pass. We probably had a better potential for qualifying to go further up the grid but we had a little problem at the end of Q2 and into Q3, so it's been a tough weekend, but even in difficult situations we got more than 30 points from the weekend, which is quite a relief and something important. Even though I'm not totally happy with the weekend, sometimes it goes like this."

ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport
Tom Coronel

Tom Coronel 9

“It’s been my home race and your home race always gives you more energy. It was exciting here and you could really feel the emotion. Yesterday was strong and we scored good points with the best result of the season, which is always nice when you can do that on your home track. This morning it was a bit of a mess and we qualified 24th – I just didn’t put the lap together with traffic and made one mistake. In the race though I overtook 10 people – it was fun to show the fans some real racing! In the final race I made a terrible start and then was stuck on the inside into Tarzan. I wanted to take the outside, but unfortunately someone else had the same idea and we came together, and that was it. It’s not the way to end this weekend we would have wanted, but it’s been fantastic to see so many fans here this weekend.”

Boutsen Ginion Racing
Benjamin Lessennes

Benjamin Lessennes 63

“We started well with fifth in qualifying yesterday, but it’s been a difficult weekend. Unfortunately, I made a little mistake in Race One and served the penalty for the jumped start, and then this morning qualifying was hard. We planned to put new tyres on for the end of Q1, but the track was very dusty so we couldn’t take any advantage from it. Race Two was difficult because it was hard to overtake, so we could only gain one place. In the final race I made quite a good start and had a good fight with Nathanael Berthon, but unfortunately in that fight I got a puncture, so that was the end of the race sadly. Still, we take the fifth-place pace and move on.”

Boutsen Ginion Racing
Dominik Greiner

Dominik Greiner

Team Manager

“It’s been a really very strong weekend here in Zandvoort with three podiums for the team and the Civic Type R TCR including another win for Yann, and of course now leading both championships. I think it showed very well this weekend the great teamwork we have and the fantastic relationships between our drivers, and it’s great motivation for the next races and to keep this momentum going.”

ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport
Olivia Boutsen

Olivia Boutsen

Team Manager

“It’s been a tough weekend here in Zandvoort, but there have certainly been positives – Benjamin’s 5th position in qualifying shows he has strong pace which is continuing race to race, although his races were a little more difficult and he couldn’t capitalise on that. Tom is of course the home hero here and there’s been so much affection for him which is wonderful, and he really gave them some entertainment in race two this morning by making up more places in the race than any other driver. Overall the results didn’t accurately reflect the performance potential we had this weekend and what we clearly saw the Type R TCR was capable of around here.”

Boutsen Ginion Racing
Mads Fischer

Mads Fischer

TCR Project Leader, JAS Motorsport

“It’s been a fantastic weekend for the teams running the Honda Civic Type R TCR. Each one has worked incredibly hard to extract every last ounce of performance from the car and the result is a victory and three podiums. It’s terrific to see ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport leading the Teams’ Championship and Yann ahead in the Drivers’ points. The Boutsen Ginion Racing team also did a very good job across the weekend, and they’d have been higher up but for some bad luck today. Our results mean inevitably we’ll have some extra compensation weight in Portugal, which means we’ll have to work even harder to score strong results there.”

JAS Motorsport
WTCR Race of Netherlands

Circuit Zandvoort, Netherlands

WTCR 2018, Round 4

Monday 21 May 2018, 16:11 Europe/London
# Driver Num Nationality Nat. Points Pts. Team Constructor Constr. Time/Gap
1 Jean-Karl Vernay 69 FRA 25 Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi 15 laps
2 Rob Huff 12 GBR 20 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen +1.199
3 Frederic Vervisch 22 BEL 16 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi +3.065
4 Esteban Guerrieri 86 ARG 13 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda +4.405
5 Gordon Shedden 52 GBR 11 Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi +5.019
6 Yann Ehrlacher 68 FRA 10 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda +6.869
7 Aurelien Comte 7 AND 9 DG Sport Competition Peugeot +7.804
8 Mehdi Bennani 25 MAR 8 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen +12.298
9 James Thompson 15 GBR 7 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda +14.241
10 Pepe Oriola 74 SPA 6 Team OSCARO by Campos Racing Cupra +18.718
11 Nathanael Berthon 23 FRA 5 Comtoyou Racing Audi +18.932
12 Denis Dupont 20 BEL 4 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi +19.524
13 Aurélien Panis 21 FRA 3 Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing Audi +20.541
14 John Filippi 27 FRA 2 Team OSCARO by Campos Racing Cupra +21.957
15 Thed Björk 11 SWE 1 YMR Hyundai +26.197
16 Mato Homola 70 SLK 0 DG Sport Competition Peugeot +28.075
17 Norbert Nagy 8 HUN 0 Zengo Motorsport Cupra +28.455
18 Gabriele Tarquini 1 ITA 0 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai +29.001
19 Bernhard van Oranje Nassau 2 NDL 0 Bas Koeten Racing Audi +31.277
20 Michael Verhagen 3 NDL 0 Bas Koeten Racing Audi +1 lap
21 Gianni Morbidelli 10 ITA 0 Mulsanne Srl Alfa Romeo +1 lap
22 Norbert Michelisz 5 HUN 0 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai +2 laps
23 Yvan Muller 48 FRA 0 YMR Hyundai +6 laps
24 Benjamin Lessennes 63 BEL 0 Boutsen Ginion Racing Honda +8 laps
25 Tom Coronel 9 NDL 0 Boutsen Ginion Racing Honda +14 laps
Monday 21 May 2018, 12:00 Europe/London
# Driver Num Nationality Nat. Points Pts. Team Constructor Constr. Time/Gap
1 Aurelien Comte 7 AND 25 DG Sport Competition Peugeot 14 laps
2 Yann Ehrlacher 68 FRA 20 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda +4.757
3 James Thompson 15 GBR 16 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda +5.255
4 Pepe Oriola 74 SPA 13 Team OSCARO by Campos Racing Cupra +6.657
5 Mehdi Bennani 25 MAR 11 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen +7.120
6 Gordon Shedden 52 GBR 10 Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi +7.458
7 Esteban Guerrieri 86 ARG 9 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda +8.086
8 Rob Huff 12 GBR 8 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen +9.198
9 Frederic Vervisch 22 BEL 7 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi +9.567
10 John Filippi 27 FRA 6 Team OSCARO by Campos Racing Cupra +9.988
11 Denis Dupont 20 BEL 5 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi +10.557
12 Benjamin Lessennes 63 BEL 4 Boutsen Ginion Racing Honda +10.887
13 Gianni Morbidelli 10 ITA 3 Mulsanne Srl Alfa Romeo +11.561
14 Tom Coronel 9 NDL 2 Boutsen Ginion Racing Honda +12.855
15 Nathanael Berthon 23 FRA 1 Comtoyou Racing Audi +13.656
16 Thed Björk 11 SWE 0 YMR Hyundai +13.729
17 Zsolt Szabo 66 HUN 0 Zengo Motorsport Cupra +13.798
18 Mato Homola 70 SLK 0 DG Sport Competition Peugeot +16.508
19 Gabriele Tarquini 1 ITA 0 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai +16.961
20 Norbert Nagy 8 HUN 0 Zengo Motorsport Cupra +17.493
Monday 21 May 2018, 08:26 Europe/London
# Driver Num Nationality Nat. Team Constructor Constr. Time/Gap
1 Jean-Karl Vernay 69 FRA Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi 1:43.994
2 Rob Huff 12 GBR Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen +1:44.453
3 Gordon Shedden 52 GBR Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi +1:44.590
4 Frederic Vervisch 22 BEL Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi +No time
5 Esteban Guerrieri 86 ARG ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda +No time
6 Yann Ehrlacher 68 FRA ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda +1:44.483
7 Mehdi Bennani 25 MAR Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen +1:44.592
8 Pepe Oriola 74 SPA Team OSCARO by Campos Racing Cupra +1:44.642
9 Aurelien Comte 7 AND DG Sport Competition Peugeot +1:44.922
10 James Thompson 15 GBR ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda +1:44.972
11 John Filippi 27 FRA Team OSCARO by Campos Racing Cupra +1:45.040
12 Aurélien Panis 21 FRA Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing Audi +1:45.141
13 Denis Dupont 20 BEL Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi +1:45.205
14 Benjamin Lessennes 63 BEL Boutsen Ginion Racing Honda +1:45.257
15 Nathanael Berthon 23 FRA Comtoyou Racing Audi +1:45.303
16 Fabrizio Giovanardi 88 ITA Mulsanne Srl Alfa Romeo +1:45.348
17 Gianni Morbidelli 10 ITA Mulsanne Srl Alfa Romeo +1:45.511
18 Yvan Muller 48 FRA YMR Hyundai +1:45.522
19 Thed Björk 11 SWE YMR Hyundai +1:45.640
20 Norbert Michelisz 5 HUN BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai +1:45.758
21 Mato Homola 70 SLK DG Sport Competition Peugeot +1:45.774
22 Gabriele Tarquini 1 ITA BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai +1:45.932
23 Norbert Nagy 8 HUN Zengo Motorsport Cupra +1:45.970
24 Tom Coronel 9 NDL Boutsen Ginion Racing Honda +1:46.001
25 Bernhard van Oranje Nassau 2 NDL Bas Koeten Racing Audi +1:46.179
26 Zsolt Szabo 66 HUN Zengo Motorsport Cupra +1:46.232
Sunday 20 May 2018, 17:19 Europe/London
# Driver Num Nationality Nat. Points Pts. Team Constructor Constr. Time/Gap
1 Yann Ehrlacher 68 FRA 25 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda 14 laps
2 Aurelien Comte 7 AND 20 DG Sport Competition Peugeot +1.217
3 Rob Huff 12 GBR 16 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen +1.566
4 Gordon Shedden 52 GBR 13 Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi +1.879
5 Jean-Karl Vernay 69 FRA 11 Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi +2.440
6 Esteban Guerrieri 86 ARG 10 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda +5.280
7 Tom Coronel 9 NDL 9 Boutsen Ginion Racing Honda +5.816
8 Mehdi Bennani 25 MAR 8 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen +6.665
9 Nathanael Berthon 23 FRA 7 Comtoyou Racing Audi +7.044
10 Aurélien Panis 21 FRA 6 Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing Audi +8.120
11 Denis Dupont 20 BEL 5 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi +8.586
12 James Thompson 15 GBR 4 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda +8.896
13 Gianni Morbidelli 10 ITA 3 Mulsanne Srl Alfa Romeo +9.383
14 Thed Björk 11 SWE 2 YMR Hyundai +9.918
15 John Filippi 27 FRA 1 Team OSCARO by Campos Racing Cupra +10.371
16 Zsolt Szabo 66 HUN 0 Zengo Motorsport Cupra +11.022
17 Norbert Nagy 8 HUN 0 Zengo Motorsport Cupra +12.440
18 Mato Homola 70 SLK 0 DG Sport Competition Peugeot +13.216
19 Benjamin Lessennes 63 BEL 0 Boutsen Ginion Racing Honda +13.424
20 Michael Verhagen 3 NDL 0 Bas Koeten Racing Audi +15.384
Sunday 20 May 2018, 08:12 Europe/London
# Driver Num Nationality Nat. Team Constructor Constr. Time/Gap
1 Rob Huff 12 GBR Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen 1:43.945
2 Yann Ehrlacher 68 FRA ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda +1:44.059
3 Gordon Shedden 52 GBR Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi +1:44.102
4 Jean-Karl Vernay 69 FRA Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi +1:44.252
5 Benjamin Lessennes 63 BEL Boutsen Ginion Racing Honda +1:44.340
6 Nathanael Berthon 23 FRA Comtoyou Racing Audi +1:44.488
7 Aurelien Comte 7 AND DG Sport Competition Peugeot +1:44.531
8 Tom Coronel 9 NDL Boutsen Ginion Racing Honda +1:44.596
9 Frederic Vervisch 22 BEL Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi +1:44.597
10 Esteban Guerrieri 86 ARG ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda +1:44.599
11 Mehdi Bennani 25 MAR Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen +1:44.671
12 Aurélien Panis 21 FRA Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing Audi +1:44.689
13 Denis Dupont 20 BEL Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi +1:44.719
14 Norbert Michelisz 5 HUN BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai +1:44.790
15 James Thompson 15 GBR ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda +1:44.939
16 Gianni Morbidelli 10 ITA Mulsanne Srl Alfa Romeo +1:44.975
17 Pepe Oriola 74 SPA Team OSCARO by Campos Racing Cupra +1:45.102
18 John Filippi 27 FRA Team OSCARO by Campos Racing Cupra +1:45.128
19 Thed Björk 11 SWE YMR Hyundai +1:45.195
20 Fabrizio Giovanardi 88 ITA Mulsanne Srl Alfa Romeo +1:45.387
Driver Standings
Monday, 21 May 2018
# Driver Num Nationality Nat. Points Pts. Team Constructor Constr.
1 Yann EHRLACHER 68 FRA 146 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda
2 Yvan MULLER 48 FRA 137 YMR Hyundai
3 Rob HUFF 12 GBR 130 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen
4 Jean-Karl VERNAY 69 FRA 121 Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi
5 Gabriele TARQUINI 1 ITA 118 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai
6 Thed BJöRK 11 SWE 112 YMR Hyundai
7 Esteban GUERRIERI 86 ARG 109 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda
8 Norbert MICHELISZ 5 HUN 102 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai
9 Frederic VERVISCH 22 BEL 65 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi
10 Pepe ORIOLA 74 SPA 63 Team OSCARO by Campos Racing Cupra
11 Mehdi BENNANI 25 MAR 63 Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen
12 Aurelien COMTE 7 AND 58 DG Sport Competition Peugeot
13 Gordon SHEDDEN 52 GBR 58 Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi
14 Dániel NAGY HUN 36 M1RA Hyundai
15 James THOMPSON 15 GBR 36 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda
16 Benjamin LESSENNES 63 BEL 36 Boutsen Ginion Racing Honda
17 Nathanael BERTHON 23 FRA 21 Comtoyou Racing Audi
18 Tom CORONEL 9 NDL 16 Boutsen Ginion Racing Honda
19 Rene RAST 33 GER 10 Audi Sport Team WRT Audi
20 John FILIPPI 27 FRA 3 Team OSCARO by Campos Racing Cupra
21 Zsolt SZABO 66 HUN 2 Zengo Motorsport Cupra
22 Aurélien PANIS 21 FRA 2 Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing Audi