Stefano Comini hails “unexpectedly close” championship battle

After taking his first pole position at the wheel of the Leopard Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR, Stefano Comini took a commanding win in Race 1, leading from lights to flag.

The defending champion is satisfied with the performance: “I had an excellent weekend and I certainly did not expect to go away from Russia with such a close situation in the standings,” admitted Comini. “I must say the car here was working perfectly. It is the first time I have the feeling that we are exploiting to the fullest the potential of the car.”

While admitting the Balance of Performance did help the Golfs, the Swiss also praised the team’s work: “For sure, lowering the height of the car by 10mm helped, but the team also did a fantastic job.”

Comini decided to give all he had in the first race, trying to capitalise on the pole position obtained yesterday: “Following yesterday’s pole, I really put all my chances on Race 1, so we had four new tyres, and everything went well. I took a good start and focused during the first laps in building a sufficient gap.”

Comini is now one point shy of championship leader James Nash, with Pepe Oriola a further point behind the 2015 champion.