Photo: Cyan Racing

Santiago Urrutia edges Rob Huff for Race 2 win in Hungary

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Cyan Racing driver Santiago Urrutia (Lynk & Co 03 TCR) fought hard to keep Zengo Motorsport’s Rob Huff (Cupra Leon Competición) to take his first victory of the season in Race 2 at the Hungaroring.

Urrutia made a strong start ahead of Huff and Münnich Motorsport’s Néstor Girolami (Honda).

Further back, Münnich Motorsport’s Esteban Guerrieri (Honda) overtook Comtoyou Racing’s Nathanael Berthon at Turn 1 on the second lap for eighth place, with the Frenchman now in the grips of Race 1 winner Mikel Azcona (Hyundai).

Zengo Motorsport’s Daniel Nagy hit by Tom Coronel, resulting in Nagy collecting Cyan Racing’s Thed Björk.

The contact saw Nagy losing a tyre and had to pit for repairs, later rejoining at the back of the field.

Tyre issues started early in the race, with race leader Urrutia reporting vibrations already on lap four with Huff right under his rear bumper.

Further back, Guerrieri lost ninth place to Azcona and came under pressure from Cyan Racing’s Yvan Muller and Comtoyou Racing’s Mehdi Bennani (Audi).

Muller tried to attack Guerrieri on the outside at Turn 1 on lap seven, with Bennani taking a stab at the Lynk & Co’s inside, hitting Muller and retiring on the spot with a damaged front left suspension.

The incident called the safety car into action.

The race was resumed on lap nine, with Urrutia charging ahead to keep the lead ahead of Huff, Girolami and Michelisz. Further back, Muller overtook Guerrieri for tenth place.

Reigning champion Yann Ehrlacher overtook Gilles Magnus for sixth place on lap 13.

At the front, Urrutia struggled with track limits as he defended from Huff, but the Uruguayan managed to stay ahead to win Race 2, with Huff in second place and Girolami completing the podium.

Michelisz finished fourth, followed by Ma Qing Hua and Ehrlacher. Magnus crossed the line in seventh place, ahead of Berthon, Azcona and Muller.

After the third round of the season, Azcona leads the championship on 84 points, with Girolami in second place, nine points behind, and Urrutia third, 15 points adrift.

The next round of the 2022 FIA WTCR season takes place at Motorland Aragón on the 25-26th of June.