Photo: Racing Weekend

Francisco Mora dominates at Braga and closes on his second TCR Portugal title

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Veloso Motorsport driver Francisco Mora dominated the fourth round of the TCR Portugal series at Braga this weekend, almost securing his second consecutive title.

The series has been running together with the TCR Iberian for the first three rounds, with the four-race Braga event being the first Portuguese-only round of the season, with eight cars entered.

Mora, at the wheel of a SEAT León TCR, scored victory in the first race of the weekend, ahead of the SEATs of Cesar Machado and Edgar Florindo. The reigning champion won again in the second race, ahead of Florindo and Machado. Mora would continue to steamroll the opposition, winning the third race of the weekend, followed by Florindo and The Audi RS 3 LMS of Patrick Cunha.

Both Florindo and Mora held an intense battle for the victory in the fourth and final race, with the Veloso Motorsport driver finishing in second place, with Rafael Lobato (Audi RS 3 LMS) completing the podium.

Joao Sousa, with the sole SEAT León Super Copa, was the winner in the TCR2 class in all four races.

Mora’s main rival for the title, Team Novadriver’s Francisco Abreu, had a difficult weekend at Braga behind the wheel of his Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR, with three fourth places and a fifth, losing important ground in the championship. Mora now leads the standings on 238 points, 70 ahead of Abreu, a gap almost impossible to close with just one round to go.

“It was an excellent weekend and I was able to accomplish all the goals I came here to achieve,” said Mora.

“I’m was sorry for not winning the last race, I was very close to achieving it, but it wasn’t possible so I decided to not risk and score decisive points to reach the title. I have always been very strong, we worked hard to get a good car here in Braga and this work compensated us with the results we saw here. This has been an exceptional year and I can only thank the team and all those who helped me get here and celebrate the second consecutive championship now.”

The fifth and last round of the TCR Portugal series takes place at Portimao on the 21st-22nd of October.