Photo: TCR Italy

Matteo Greco wins final TCR Italy race of 2019 at Monza

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Matteo Greco won the final TCR Italy championship race of the 2019 season for Scuderia del Girasole Cupra Racing at Monza, elevating him to second place in the standings. The Cupra driver crossed the finishing line just under two seconds ahead of BF Motorsports driver Jacopo Guidetti.

Hyundai driver Damiano Reduzzi started from pole position but lost the lead into Turn 1 to Greco who started second.

Trico WRT driver Reduzzi continued to drop down the order during the opening laps as rainfall increased, with Audi RS 3 LMS driver Enrico Bettera passing him for second place on the first lap.

The second lap saw Guidetti making his way past Reduzzi, with Cupra TCR DSG driver Eric Scalvini following past not long after. This left Reduzzi having to defend fifth place from championship newcomer Felice Jelmini of PMA Motorsport.

Bettera out braked himself into the first chicane on the third lap, allowing Giuidetti to get past into second place.

Scalvini continued to make ground as the race progressed, making a move on Pit Lane Competizioni driver Bettera to claim third place with ten minutes left of the race.

Guidetti closed the gap on leading driver Greco with two laps left of the race. But the Audi driver was not able to get close enough and had to settle for second place.

Greco won the race by 1.691 seconds ahead of Guidetti while Cupra driver Scalvini took the final podium position, seven seconds adrift.

Bettera crossed the line in fourth position, with Reduzzi claiming fifth just ahead of fellow Hyundai driver Jelmini in sixth position for PMA Motorsport.

Both drivers received five-second penalties after the race. Reduzzi received his for multiple line changes and Jelmini for contact with Salvatore Tavano.

Lein Racing driver Nikola Miljković and Target Competition driver Marco Pellegrini rounded off the top eight.

Already crowned champion Tavano was forced to stop due to a technical issue with two laps left of the race.

Tavano claimed the title on 160 points, with Greco second on 141 points and Bettera third on 134 points.