Néstor Girolami wins at Macau as Yann Ehrlacher is the champion

Hyundai driver Néstor Girolami converted his pole position at the Guia circuit in Macau into victory in the first race of the weekend at Macau, with Lynk & Co Cyan Racing driver Yann Ehrlacher securing the 2025 FIA TCR World Tour drivers’ crown with third place.

Ehrlacher almost got ahead of Girolami at the start, with Thed Björk making the best start of the trio from third.

But the Swede was not able to capitalise on it and instead had to defend from the drivers behind.

BRC driver Mikel Azcona got a lightning start from seventh on the grid and was able to get past Björk heading into Lisboa, with Honda driver Esteban Guerrieri following past Björk into fourth as well.

Guerrieri’s GOAT Racing team-mate Ignacio Montenegro was left hung dry from fourth on the grid, dropping down to seventh behind Ma Qing Hua.

Norbert Michelisz (Hyundai) had a dreadful start after contact with Guerrieri, coming into the pits at the end of the first lap with damage and later retired from the race.

The positions remained stable during the first couple of laps, with Josh Buchan (Hyundai) having moved up to eighth place from tenth on the grid, followed by Lo Sze Ho (Hyundai) and Max Hart (Cupra).

Cyan Racing driver Santiago Urrutia was on a recovery drive from last on the grid due to an engine change, and came together with Honda’s Pepe Oriola at Lisboa on lap five while trying to go around the outside of the Spaniard.

The fight between the two allowed Aurélien Comte and HMO Customer Racing driver Ryan MacMillan to join the pair.

At the front, Ehrlacher closed the gap to Girolami to under a second, while Azcona clocked the fastest lap of the race on lap six and gained further on the Frenchman.

Azcona overtook Ehrlacher on lap seven for second place, as the Lynk & Co driver made it easy for the Spandiard.

Urrutia finally managed to overtake Oriola for eleventh place on lap eight.

Oriola’s team-mate Montenegro took the escape road at Mandarin on the final lap and retired from seventh place.

Girolami scored his third win of the season as the chequered dropped after ten laps, with Azcona and Ehrlacher completing the podium.

Guerrieri was fourth, followed by Björk and Ma. Buchan finished seventh ahead of Lo Sze Ho and Hart, while Urrutia made a strong drive from the back on the grid to complete the top ten.

Ehrlacher claimed his third world touring car title title on 477 points while Björk has dropped 40 points behind in second place with 30 left.

The FIA TCR World Tour field returns to the track on Sunday morning for Race 2 at 11:00 local time, 04:00 CET.