Ruben Volt wins Barcelona opener as Jenson Brickley takes points lead

Jenson Brickley takes a five-point lead over Jimmy Clairet ahead of the TCR Europe Series season finale after finishing second to Ruben Volt in a dramatic restarted opening race at Barcelona.

A multi-car incident caused by Victor Fernández Gil hitting the rear of Jacopo Cimenes’ stalled Honda Civic Type-R brought out the red flags, with Brickley holding onto his fourth place grid position at the restart.

Contact between Felipe Fernández Gil and Brickley’s title chasing team-mate Eric Gené forced the latter into the gravel and down the order, handing Brickley second behind runaway race winner Volt.

Team Clairet Sport’s Jimmy Clairet boosted his own title hopes with the final step on the podium in third, with both making considerable gains on Gené and MM Motorsport’s Marco Butti.

Gené had to make do with a lowly 14th position at the end, one place ahead of Butti, who encountered technical issues in qualifying and a puncture on the opening lap.

Third-placed Jacopo Cimenes stalled his MM Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R on the grid and was hit heavily by Victor Fernández Gil (Auto Club RC2 Valles Honda) who in turn was then collected by Raphel Fournier (JSB Compétition Audi).

Further back, TCR Europe newcomers Sam and Steve Laidlaw (Area Motorsport Cupra) came to blows, ending their race.

The race was then red flagged with polesitter Volt leading the way from Gené and Felipe Fernández Gil. After a difficult qualifying where technical issues prevented him from reaching Q2, Marco Butti’s dramas continued on the opening lap as his Honda suffered a puncture.

Volt maintained his lead at the safety car restart with just over 15 minutes to go with Gené initially keeping pace behind in second.

The Spaniard soon came under pressure from compatriot Fernández Gil, who managed to stave off a challenge from Gené’s team-mate Jenson Brickley on the second lap.

Behind, Jimmy Clairet ran fifth, one place ahead of his brother and Team Clairet Sport Audi team-mate Teddy Clairet.

Both Clairets soon joined a seven-car train in pursuit of Gené, who was subsequently forced off into the gravel on the exit of 12 by Fernández Gil, dropping the erstwhile points leader to 14th position.

Fernández Gil was handed a 10-second post-race time penalty for his part in the incident.

With Butti still toiling in 17th, that gave Brickley the upper hand in the points battle, the British driver having moved up to second as Volt skipped clear at the front to the tune of nearly five seconds.

Down the order, Gené and Butti found themselves scrapping for 14th position, with Butti initially getting ahead before being required to cede the position by the time the safety car was deployed for the second time, after Filippo Barberi spun into the gravel.

The race finished under yellow flag conditions, with Volt taking the win from Brickley and Jimmy Clairet, with Teddy Clairet fourth.

Viktor Andersson was classified fifth at the finish, benefitting from Fernández Gil’s 10-second, and Junui Park’s five-second penalties.

Target’s Max Hart recovered well from a poor qualifying to finish sixth, ahead of Aikoa Racing’s Nicola Baldan and Junesung Park.

Gabriele Covini (BRC Racing Team) and Julien Briché (JSB Compétition) completed the top 10.