Giacomo Altoè fights engine issue to secure first sprint race win

Giacomo Altoè won his first sprint race in TCR competition in Race 2 at Zandvoort in the TCR Benelux series, despite a late race engine issue causing him to come under threat from Honda’s Benjamin Lessennes.

Altoè secured second in the first race, fighting Stéphane Lémeret for the lead while holding off Lessennes, with the 16-year-old surrounded by the orange and black Honda Civics.

“I tried all the corners to overtake Lémeret, but he was so good to not leave the door open,” said Altoe to TouringCarTimes. “Also, the engine of the Honda was too good on the straight and the exit of the corners, so I don’t know if it was even possible to overtake.”

In Race 2, the Delahaye Volkswagen driver saw his strong lead wiped out due to fuel pressure concerns late in the race, but the Italian was able to hold on to take his first sprint win in a TCR car.

“In the last four laps of Race 2 I had an engine problem, and the car was slowing down a lot,” he said. “I saw Benjamin coming up really fast, and I did about the half the track without the throttle to try and protect the engine with the falling fuel pressure.”

Altoè’s win means co-driver Guillaume Mondron now takes over the lead of the championship ahead of this afternoon’s pair of races, with the #4 Volkswagen Golf again starting on the front row.