Photo: Jacques Letihon Photographe

Lorenzo Donniacuo secures Bas Koeten’s first win of 2017 at Mettet

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Last-minute stand-in Lorenzo Donniacuo dominated the first sprint race at Mettet, leading from pole position to score his and Bas Koeten Racing’s first win of the 2017 TCR Benelux season.

Donniacuo had been the fastest driver on used tyres in the second segment of the qualifying long race and so had secured himself pole in the Audi RS 3 LMS this weekend which he shares with Alexis van de Poele.

The Belgian was a last-minute draft as originally scheduled driver, Dutchman Maarten Mus was too unwell to race.

Donniacuo quickly built a lead over the Delahaye Racing Volkswagen Golf of Giacomo Altoè, while Team WRT’s Sam Dejonghe launched his SEAT León to third on the first lap, and kept a close eye on Altoè’s Golf throughout the remainder of the race.

The Audi of Donniacuo crossed the line just under two seconds clear of Altoè, with Dejonghe scoring the car’s fifth podium of the season with third.

Kevin Abbring finished fourth in the DG Sport Compétition Peugeot 308, and in doing so, he and co-driver Aurélien Comte move ahead of the #52 WRT pair of Maxime Potty and Mathieu Detry in the championship standings.

Stéphane Lémeret drove the Boutsen Ginion Honda Civic from last to fifth, but with Guillaume Mondron’s co-driver Giacomo Altoè finishing in second, Mondron extends his championship lead to 15 points heading into Race 2, which follows imminently.