Attila Tassi and Julien Briché at odds over Race 1 contact

Attila Tassi and Julien Briché both placed the blame at each other following their collision in the opening TCR Europe series race at the Hungaroring for which Briché was penalised.

The pair had been disputing second place entering the closing stages of the race when Tassi was speared into the gravel and retirement at Turn 8.

Briché’s Peugeot 308TCR continued to finish an on-the-road second but was handed a 30-second time penalty for his part in the contact, dropping the Frenchman out of the points.

Local favourite Tassi felt he was denied victory in his home event and was unequivocal in his frustrations.

“I know it was a questionable situation what happened between us, because even at the previous corners he was pushing me,” Tassi said.

“It was not as if he locked up, he kept pushing me which is not correct in touring car racing. One touch is okay but every corner is not how we race. Then two corners later, he just turned into me. I don’t understand what he wants to do because in that corner, in those conditions on slicks, there is no way two cars can turn together.”

Briché saw things differently and insisted he only made the initial contact to avoid the pair going off the road.

“Three times we hit each other on the same lap,” Briché told TouringCarTimes.

“I felt like it was a race where everyone just kept closing the door. If I stayed in my position on the road, we’d both go off. I don’t agree with the decision because I think he kept his steering wheel right and drove into me.”

While both drivers failed to score points in the opening race, they remain well placed for Sunday’s second encounter, with Briché second on the grid and Tassi ninth.