Marco Butti blasts to race one win at Spa

A storming opening lap at Spa proved to be key to success for Marco Butti after he secured an impressive victory in the opening TCR Europe race of the weekend in Belgium.

Felipe Fernández started from pole position in his Honda Civic Type R but lost the lead to team-mate Santiago Concepción at turn one, with the poleman then losing out to Junesung Park and Butti on the run up to Les Combes.

Butti had started back in fifth spot but having cleared Ruben Volt at the start, he found himself soon running in second spot behind Concepción having clashed with the Spaniard with his late lunge at the top of the Kemmel Straight.

Concepción’s lead would only last until the Bus Stop at the end of the opening lap when Butti finally managed to find a way ahead into the lead as he dived down the inside to hit the front.

Butti quickly started to break away at the front of the pack as Concepción found himself under huge pressure from Park, Fernández and Volt – with Park dropping out of the battle on lap three when contact to the rear of his car resulted in bodywork rubbing on the right rear wheel.

Fernández and Volt nipped ahead of the Hyundai but the Korean driver was able to continue, with the issue appearing to resolve itself within half a lap as he maintained fifth from Jimmy Clairet, with Eric Gené and Nicolas Taylor involved in the gaggle of cars running behind.

Clairet lost spots when he tried to make a move on Park but instead ended up taking a trip through the gravel, with the championship leader plummeting down the order to sit outside the points.

Butti had established a comfortable lead at the front before Volt departed the action on the fifth lap, with the safety car deployed to allow his Civic Type R to be recovered from the edge of the circuit.

It left Butti ahead of Concepción and Fernández on the road, with Park, Gené and Taylor able to close in on the lead battle ready for the moment the action resumed after a single lap under caution.

Butti nailed the restart to retain the lead but behind, Park dived down the inside of Fernández into turn one, catching the Spaniard napping and also allowing Gené to follow him through as the poleman slipped back into fifth.

Taylor was under pressure for sixth meanwhile from Teddy Clairet, with Clairet putting a wheel on the grass to get ahead on the run down to Pouhon.

Clairet then took the outside line against Fernández through turn one which allowed him to take fifth on the run down to Eau Rouge.

Tyre problems for Jenson Brickley – who had worked his way up into the top ten – saw the safety car deployed for a second time with the clock hitting zero before the restart to set a one lap dash to the flag.

Butti again maintained his lead on the restart as Concepcíon was forced to defend from Park on the run up to Les Combes, who tried to get the outside line but couldn’t make a move stick.

However, as Butti secured a maiden victory, Park was finally able to get ahead of Concepcíon into second at the Bus Stop – drawing up to the rear of the Honda and getting a better run out of the final corner to steal the spot on the run to the line.

Concepcíon had to settle for third spot ahead of Gené and Teddy Clairet, with Taylor, Nicola Baldan and Fernández rounding out the top eight.

Max Hart crossed the line in ninth but picked up a five second track limits penalty that dropped him down the order, meaning it was Junui Park and Filippo Barberi who completed the top ten.

Jimmy Clairet recovered to twelfth at the finish to retain the points lead ahead of race two.