Vincent Radermecker doubles-up at Zolder as field is decimated

Vincent Radermecker took his third win of the 2016 TCR Benelux season in Race 2 at Zolder, leading from start to finish in his Milo Racing Volkswagen Golf, whilst action behind saw just five cars make the finish of the 12-lap race.

Radermecker started from pole courtesy of his Race 1 victory and led into Turn 1 at the rolling start, while there was trouble behind with Steve Vanbellingen spinning out at the back of the pack in his WRT Volkswagen.

At Turn 4 on the same lap, Romain De Leval in the Delahaye Volkswagen and Fred Caprasse in the DG Opel came together, with De Leval ending up stuck in the gravel trap, while Caprasse was able to rejoin at the tail of the field.

At this point, Radermecker was leading ahead of the two Delahaye cars of Didier Van Dalen (Volkswagen) and Edouard Mondron (SEAT).

Sam Dejonghe was running in fourth, but was passed by both his WRT team-mate Maxime Potty and the Boutsen-Ginion Honda of Matt Neal on laps three and four.

Potty now closed up to Mondron’s SEAT, and tried for a move down the inside at Turn 1 at the start of lap six, but damaged his front splitter in the process and was forced to retire.

Neal was now battling for fourth behind Mondron, which allowed the Opel of Caprasse to catch the battling trio, with Caprasse passing Dejonghe and Neal within the space of a lap, with Neal falling back behind Dejonghe’s SEAT.

Caprasse then made his move on Mondron’s SEAT to take third on lap ten, just as Van Dalen retired from second with a mechanical issue.

Radermecker would go on to win the race with a margin of over three seconds ahead of Caprasse, with Mondron completing the podium, and with Dejonghe and Neal the only other cars running at the finish.

Race 3 follows at 13:45 CET with the second drivers taking over the cars, with Pierre-Yves Corthals starting on pole position in the DG Sport Opel Astra TCR.