Photo: TCR Series

Attila Tassi back in the points lead after strong weekend in Thailand

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M1RA driver Attila Tassi has retaken the lead of the drivers’ championship after a competitive race weekend in China, with the 18-year-old heading to China with a two point lead over Team WRT driver Jean-Karl Vernay.

Tassi finished on the podium in the first race, thanks in part to late-race issues for the Opel of Mat’o Homola with a puncture, and a gearbox issue with the Craft-Bamboo SEAT of Pepe Oriola.

The result was nearly lost after a mid-race strategic play by the Hungarian team didn’t work out, when team-mate and team owner Norbert Michelisz slowed from second to try and allow Tassi ahead at Turn 3, but then as Tassi and Vernay were caught in the manoeuvre, Oriola saw his opportunity and pounced, stealing the position from both Tassi and Vernay.

In Race 2, Tassi had a quiet run to fourth, defended for the first 13 laps of the 14 lap heat by Michelisz, who kept championship rival Jean-Karl Vernay at bay.

“Everything worked out well,” said Tassi to TouringCarTimes. “In Race 1, I had a good start and overtook Vernay, and then overtook Nash for P3 at Turn 3. My pace wasn’t the fastest all weekend, we could see that. Norbi wanted to help me but I think it was a bit risky, as Vernay and Oriola were right behind me. After that, we knew we just had to manage the tyres as we saw some punctures.”

In the second race, Tassi fought during the early stages with his other chief title rival, that of Comtoyou Racing Audi driver Stefano Comini, but thought better of it and settled for the points.

“I had a good fight with Comini, but he was tricky. As I was overheating, and when I was trying to move out of the way he was moving over with me to try and overheat my engine,” said Tassi. “In the end, it’s good, we finished ahead of Vernay, unfortunately Norbi had a technical issue so I was just one not two places ahead of Vernay, so I’m just two points ahead.”

With Tassi and Michelisz both scoring 28 points over the weekend, the two drivers will carry the maximum ballast of 30kg at the next race, though Michelisz will likely be absent, making the way for a hopefully recovered Roberto Colciago.

“We’ll have the 30kg success ballast for China, and we can’t afford to not score any points,” he added. “I think the championship fight will only be decided in the last round, but it’s good I scored more points than Jean-Karl and Stefano, so that’s positive, but it’s not over yet.”