Zsolt Szabo wins aborted second race at Vila Real

Zsolt Szabo has taken his first win in the European Touring Car Cup in the second race at Vila Real, in which just one full racing lap was completed with offs for Norbert Nagy and Christjohannes Schreiber.

Szabo kept the lead from pole position into the first corner in his Zengo SEAT, while Mladen Lalusic alongside had a terrible start in the LEIN Racing SEAT, and plummeted down the order, with Plamen Kralev up to second in the Audi RS 3 LMS.

Christjohannes Schreiber made a great start, going from 11th to third around the outside of the disordered field due to Lalusic’s near-stall, but the race was soon suspended behind the safety car when the #8 SEAT of Norbert Nagy crashed out and hit the barriers, seemingly on his own.

The race resumed on lap four, with Szabo fighting to hold back Kralev, while Schreiber began to drop down the order with a mechanical problem.

The Swiss then crashed into the barriers at the start of lap five, with the safety car summoned again, but with the barriers severely damaged and the joker lap recce for the WTCC next on the schedule, the race was red flagged on lap six, with less than 75% distance complete.

Fulín now leads the championship on 57 points, building up a healthy lead over Christjohannes Schreiber of 13 points.

The next round of the ETCC is a standalone event at Zolder in Belgium on September 17th.