TCR at Spa: First win of the season for championship leader Vernay

Jean-Karl Vernay (Leopard Racing) scored his first win of the year in the sixth race of the 2017 TCR International Series season today at Spa-Francorchamps. Vernay was already in the championship lead before the race and with Spa’s victory, his fourth in TCR career, he confirms the lead.

At Spa, Vernay won the race ahead of his new teammate and WTCC veteran Rob Huff. Volkswagen was close to 1-2-3 victory as Belgian Edouard Mondron (Delahaye Racing) was in a fight for podium for most of the race but he lost P3 in lap 7 of 9, being overtaken by reigning TCR champion and the winner of yesterday’s race Stefano Comini (Comtoyou Racing, Audi RS3 LMS).

24 cars participated in two TCR races at Spa

The race was full of action from the start. Three of four drivers from the top of the grid dropped to back of the field following the clash at turn 1, when Tom Coronel pushed Pepe Oriola to polesitter Maxime Potty. Edouard Mondron inherited a lead in the opening lap but lost a position in the next lap to Rob Huff. Vernay took the lead on lap 5 with a great move at Les Combes, overtaking both Huff and Mondron.

We saw many duels in the top 10, the last one on the very last corner, when Giacomo Altoe has stolen P10 from Dušan Borković. Other point scorers are Ben Lessennes (5th), Frederic Vervisch (6th), Davit Kajaia (7th), James Nash (8th) and Attila Tassi (9th).

Check the full results of TCR races at Spa

After six races, Vernay leads with 91 points on his account. Comini follows with 66 points, thirteen more than third-placed Attila Tassi. Dušan Borković and Roberto Colciago scored no points at Spa, they are now at P4 and P5 with 51 and 50 points respectively.

The TCR International Series now travels to Italy, with two races at Autodromo Nazionale di Monza scheduled for Sunday, May 14.

Photos: tcr-series.com,