TCR International Series at Spa: Pellinen stole the Race 1 victory from Borkovic

Aku Pellinen, the 22-year-old Finnish driver of the West Coast Racing’s Honda Civic TCR, wins the first race of the TCR International Series at Spa-Francorchamps. Two Seat Leon TCR drivers, Pepe Oriola and Dusan Borkovic, completed the podium.

TCR International Series, Spa, Dusan Borkovic

Dusan Borkovic didn’t capitalize his pole position

Bad start ruined Borkovic’s hopes for victory

In the qualifying for the third championship round Serbian drivar Dusan Borkovic earned his first pole position this year. His hopes for victory vanished before the first turn, because Pellinen had a fantastic start and jumped from the third starting position into the lead. During the opening lap Borkovic lost one more position from Pepe Oriola and the order remained unchanged for all nine laps.

Vernay bumped out Nash

Behind the leading trio Jean-Karl Vernay was chasing James Nash and they collided on Lap 7. Vernay bumped Nash from behind and took the fourth place. Race officials penalized Vernay after the race and he dropped out of points, to 14th place. Mato Homola finished fourth in front of two Hondas of Gianni Morbidelli and Kevin Gleason. Davit Kajaia earned valuable points with seventh place while Nash after all crossed the finish line in eighth place. Sergey Afanasyev and Antti Buri completed the top 10.

Attila Tassi crashed out on last lap

Heavy crash of young Attila Tassi

Attila Tassi, the youngest driver in the field, crashed out heavily on last lap after front right tire of his Seat Leon blew off. It was only accident in the action packed race. Fifteen drivers finished the race. Defending champion Stefano Comini didn’t even start because of technical issues on his Volkswagen Golf.

Two Sebastien Loeb Racing’s Peugeot 308 Racing Cup cars debuted in the TCR International Series, driven by Gregory Guilvert and Jimmy Clairet, and nearly missed the points. One more race is scheduled for tomorrow.