Nicolas Taylor wins twice safety car-interrupted Mugello race two

Nicolas Taylor won the second TCR Europe race of the weekend at Mugello from the reversed grid pole position, a race which was interrupted twice by the safety car.

The PMA Motorsport driver got a good getaway while Monlau Motorsport’s Viktor Andersson made a slow start from second on the grid, dropping down to fifth place.

Junesung Park made a strong start from fifth on the grid to snatch second place on the first lap.

Another driver on the move early on was Race 1 winner Alex Ley who started tenth but made his way to seventh place on the first lap.

Honda driver Max Hart suffered a technical issue during the first lap and was forced to retire in the pits.

Cupra driver Marco Butti piled the pressure on Junesung Park in the fight for second place during the first part of the race, making the move at Turn 1 on lap seven.

The two made contact in the process as Junesung Park also lost third place to BRC Racing driver Ley.

The stewards then handed Butti a five-second penalty for the incident, dropping him down to eighth place, despite crossing the finishing line in second place.

The safety car was called into action on lap eight for the first time as Julien Briche and Victor Fernandez made contact and ended up in the gravel trap.

The safety car headed back two laps later but was immediately called into action again as Gabriele Covini was hit by Santiago Conception at Turn 1 during the restart.

The race resumed with just one lap left, but with no major changes made as the field sprinted to the chequered flag.

Taylor won his first TCR Europe race ahead of Race 1 winner Ley, while ALM Motorsport driver Mike Halder clinched the final podium position.

Junesung Park finished fourth ahead of Audi driver Nicola Baldan.

Adam Shepherd managed to make his way past Monlau Motorsport driver Andersson at the end who dropped a total of five places from second on the grid to finish seventh.

Ley heads the points table with a margin of 18 points over Junesung Park.

The next TCR Europe race weekend takes place at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium on May 15-17.