Alex Ley breaks Audi dominance to win second Vallelunga race
Hyundai driver Alex Ley claimed his first TCR Italy victory of 2025 in the second Vallelunga race, breaking the Audi dominance as title rivals Nicola Baldan and Nicolas Taylor completed the podium.
Honda driver Michal Bartoszuk started from the reversed grid pole position but got a slow getaway, dropping down to fourth place as BRC Racing Team team-mates Gabriele Covini and Ley snatched the top two places.
Reigning champion Taylor made a daring pass over the grass into the fast first corner to snatch third place from Bartoszuk.
Ley managed to pass BRC team-mate Covini at the end of the first lap just before the safety car headed out on track due to Carlo Alberto Bocca spinning off track.
PMA Motorsport driver Taylor was able to pass Covini for second place as the safety car headed back in, with Baldan close behind the duo.
Baldan then managed to pass Covini for third place with 16 minutes left of the race.
The Aikoa Racing driver then quickly caught Taylor and snatched second place with 12 minutes left of the race.
Disaster struck Kombat Motorsport driver Michele Imberti who suffered a front-left puncture with four minutes left, dropping down from fifth to finish 16th and last.
While Baldan was closing in towards the end of the race, Ley claimed a comfortable victory, close to two seconds ahead of his Audi rival.
Taylor came home in third, with Covini right on the rear bumper of his RS 3 LMS.
Race 1 pole sitter Jacopo Cimenes (Honda) recovered from eighth place on the grid to finish fifth while Pietro Alessi (Audi) rounded off the top six for BF Motorsport.
Taylor keeps the points lead on 162 points, but Baldan is just three points behind in second while Alessi is a distant third, 38 points adrift.
The next TCR Italy race takes place at Monza together with the FIA TCR World Tour on June 21-22.
