Michele Imberti charges to double Imola victory
Michele Imberti charged up through the field to claim a second consecutive victory in race two of the TCR Italy opener at Imola, passing Denis Babuin on the final lap.
Audi driver Carlo Alberto Bocca started from the reversed grid pole and headed the field into Turn 1, but fastest start of all was made by Babuin who was up to second place from sixth on the grid before the first corner.
And the Planet Motorsport driver continued his charge to snatch the lead from Bocca before the end of the first lap.
Kombat Motorsport driver Imberti (Hyundai) started to make his way up through the field early on after a quiet first lap, passing Honda driver Ramiro Zago for fifth place on lap four with some contact between the two.
Imberti caught Sandro Pelatti in the fight for third place with 14 minutes left and made the move exiting Variante Villeneuve as the Cupra driver got an untidy exit.
The Hyundai driver caught Bocca two laps later and made an easy pass for second place.
Imberti started to reel in leading driver Babuin quickly, lapping around half a second per lap quicker than the Audi driver.
Planet Motorsport driver Babuin made a mistake on the penultimate lap and had to cut the Variante Alta chicane, a move he received a black and white flag for, but managed to stay ahead for the moment.
Imberti made the move for the lead heading into Variante Tamburello on the final lap, demoting Babuin, who had headed the field from lap one, to second place.
Imberti won the race just over a second ahead of Babuin while Bocca was more than four seconds behind in third place for BF Motorsport.
Pelatti took his Cupra to fourth place ahead of Matteio Poloni and Paolo Rocca.
Imberti leaves the season opener in the championship lead on 95 points, Babuin is second on 83 points and Poloni is third on 68 points.
The next race of the season takes place at Vallelunga on May 22-24.
