Photo: FIA WTCR

Nathanaël Berthon tops tactical second free practice at Jeddah

By

Comtoyou Racing’s Nathanäel Berthon set the fastest lap time in the second free practice session of the FIA WTCR season finale at Jeddah, ahead of the decisive qualifying session later today.

The second free practice session got off with the teams already preparing tow strategies for the qualifying session, as seen with BRC Racing Team drivers Mikel Azcona, Norbert Michelisz and Nicky Catsburg.

Several drivers, such as Michelisz himself, Münnich Motorsport’s Néstor Girolami or Comtoyou’s Viktor Davidovski hit trouble while out-braking themselves at Turn 12, but there were far fewer track limit incidents than in the first free practice.

The Audi drivers of Comtoyou Racing, Gilles Magnus, Franco Girolami and Nathanäel Berthon led the session with ten minutes to go.

BRC Hyundai sent their drivers on the track with Azcona towing Michelisz and allowing the Hungarian to climb up to second place. The Audi drivers counterattacked with three minutes left on the clock, taking the first three places again with Magnus, Coronel and Berthon.

Azcona was also improving in the final moments of the season, but Michelisz, who was towing the Spaniard, out-braked himself at Turn 12, with Franco Girolami taking his Comtoyou Audi up to third place.

Berthon set the fastest lap of the weekend so far to take the top spot with a lap time of 1:16.383, with Magnus just 0.039 seconds behind. Girolami was third, 0.331 seconds off the pace, followed by Azcona, 0.356 seconds behind Berthon.

Coronel was fifth, ahead of Michelisz and his team-mate Catsburg, just 0.552 seconds off the place.

Viktor Davidovski completed another good session for Comtoyou in eighth place, followed by Münnich Motorsport’s Esteban Guerrieri, the fastest Honda Civic Type R TCR driver on the track in ninth place, with Engstler Motorsport’s Attila Tassi (Honda) completing the top ten.

Néstor Girolami had another grey session, only managing 13th place, 1.3 seconds behind Berthon.

“It’s a very simple circuit, but a difficult one to get right,” Berthon said after the session, which ended with his right-side window shattered.

The qualifying session is scheduled for 18:30 local time, 16:30 CET.