Michele Imberti wins safety car interrupted first Vallelunga race

Michele Imberti scored a lights-to-flag victory in the first TCR Italy race of the weekend at Vallelunga for Kombat Motorsport.

The main concern at the starting grid was tyre wear, as the track temperatures rose above 50 degrees.

Imberti took the lead from the pole position at the start, followed by the Audis of Paolo Rocca and Mateo Poloni. Peter Cizek (Cupra) climbed to fourth place on the opening lap, demoting MM Motorsport driver Ramiro Zago to fifth.

The Czech driver then went wide, allowing Zago to recover fourth position on lap three.

At the front, Rocca didn’t leave Imberti’s tail, putting the pressure on the Hyundai driver for the lead.

Zago went on the inside of Poloni on lap five for third place, pushing the Italian onto the gravel which allowed Cizek to also overtake the Audi driver. The incident was investigated by the stewards, with no further action taken.

The safety car was called into action on lap nine as Cupra driver Leonardo Cuppari hit the barriers at Turn 10.

The race went green again on lap 12.

Further back, PMA Motorsport driver Sandro Pelatti went side-by-side with Carlo Alberto Bocca (Audi) to overtake for sixth place. Pelatti continued fighting forward, overtaking Poloni for fifth position on the final lap.

Imberti held Rocca off until the chequered flag to claim victory in Race 1, with Zago completing the podium

Cizek finished fourth, ahead of Poloni, Pelatti and Bocca. Honda driver Marco Pellegrini crossed the line in eighth position, followed by Francesco Cardone and Raffaele Gurrieri.

“Surely it was a great race, but the temperatures put a lot of pressure on the tyres and we suffered a lot of wear, but I enjoyed it and I’m happy with the result,” said Imberti after the race.

Imberti leads the championship after Race 1 with 150 points, followed by Rocca, 42 points behind. Poloni lies third, a further four points adrift.

The TCR Italy field returns to the track on Sunday at 11:40 CEST for Race 2.