Kevin Abbring and Aurélien Comte win the qualifying race at Mettet

DG Sport Compétition pair Kevin Abbring and Aurélien Comte took their third consecutive victory in the TCR Benelux series at Circuit Jules Tacheny in Mettet, getting the jump on the #7 Team WRT SEAT with a late pit stop in the qualifying long race.

The Boutsen Ginion Racing Honda Civic of Benjamin Lessennes started from pole position, but ran into trouble on the opening lap and was straight into the pits, with the Team WRT Volkswagen of Maxime Potty leading ahead of team-mate Denis Dupont in the SEAT León.

Dupont passed Potty for the lead however on lap six and began to pull away, while Mika Morien’s third placed Audi RS 3 was soon passed by Aurélien Comte in the Peugeot 308.

Morien was the first to make his mandatory pit stop whe the pit window opened on lap 23, with second-placed Potty following a lap later, with race leader Dupont stopping on lap 26.

Comte stayed out until the final moment, pitting on lap 31 and handing over to Dutch team-mate Kevin Abbring, who emerged in the lead, two seconds clear of the WRT SEAT, now in the hands of Sam Dejonghe.

Abbring began to eke out a slight lead over Dejonghe, who held station ahead of team-mate Matthieu Detry in the Volkswagen.

Abbring went on to take the chequered flag and secure the DG Sport team’s third win in as many races, firmly putting the Peugeot pair back in solid contention for the championship.

Dejonghe and Dupont finished second, and with Potty and Detry third, the Belgian pair are now just 28 points behind the championship leader.

With Lessennes not scoring, Delahaye Racing’s Guillaume Mondron has retaken the championship lead after finishing fifth with co-driver Giacomo Altoè, recovering from last after missing part of qualifying, and is now seven points ahead of Lessennes as next up are the four sprint races, the first of which is at 12:45 CET.