Felice Jelmini masters wet conditions to win race two at Hockenheim

PMA Motorsport’s Felice Jelmini produced a sensational drive to claim victory in a rain-affected second TCR Europe race of the weekend at Hockenheim.

The Audi RS 3 LMS driver was one of the very few drivers to start on four wet tyres and quickly built up a lead of over 20-seconds before a late safety car intervention.

Jelmini hit the front on the second lap, passing both reversed grid polesitter Felipe Fernández and Ruben Volt, and never looked back.

Max Hart and Jimmy Clairet completed the podium as a further heavier rain shower caused chaos in the closing stages, with the latter leaving Hockenheim with a 24-point lead over his brother Teddy Clairet in the standings.

From pole, Felipe Fernández got a good start and led the way into turn one, as ALM Motorsport’s Ruben Volt moved into second place ahead of Jimmy Clairet’s Audi RS 3 LMS.

Morning rain ensured most of the field fitted a combination of a slick front tyre and wet rear, but an initially dry racing line meant some drivers elected to gamble on a full slick tyre solution.

Before long, those on full slicks realised their mistake as the rain intensified, forcing the likes of Jenson Brickley (Monlau Motorsport) into the pits to change onto wets. Viktor Andersson (MA:GP Lynk & Co) also started on slicks but copped a drivethrough penalty for fitting his tyres after the five-minute board on the grid.

Fernández was the first to encounter the new conditions and came under pressure from Volt who dived to the inside of turn two to seize the lead.

Behind, Jelmini – one of the very few on full wet tyres – also pounced on Fernández to grab second and then got a superb run out of the corner to pull alongside Volt on the run to the turn four hairpin.

Despite a light tap from Fernández, Jelmini was undeterred and out-dragged Volt towards turn seven to take the lead of the race.

From then, it was a masterclass drive from Jelmini, who pulled away at an incredible rate of knots, quickly establishing a whopping 21-second advantage over Marco Buti, who carved his way through the field from 10th on the grid.

Butti was perhaps the only driver other than Jelmini to appear comfortable in the wet conditions, and showed his speed in cruising past Jimmy Clairet for fourth before getting past Fernández and Volt.

In the closing stages, multiple cars fell foul of the horrible conditions. Clairet and Volt were the first to go off at the final corner, getting caught out on the slick drag strip.

Nicolas Taylor hit the barrier, as did Fernández, while Junui Park, Butti and Pierre-Arnaud Laurent also found trouble at the same corner.

The safety car was then deployed with just three minutes remaining, negating what had developed into a 44-second margin for Jelmini, to nothing.

Such were the conditions and clean-up required, that the race finished behind the safety car, securing victory for Jelmini from race one winner Max Hart, who benefitted from a late issue for Butti, while Jimmy Clairet claimed the final step on the podium in third.

Just off the podium was Julien Briché (JSB Compétition Hyundai), ahead of Eric Gené (Monlau Motorsport Cupra) while erstwhile points leader Teddy Clairet salvaged something out of an otherwise disappointing weekend with sixth from 19th on the grid.

Junesong Park was seventh ahead of Santiago Concepción, while Brickley and Mikael Karlsson rounded out the top 10.