Yann Ehrlacher wins incident-packed Race 1 at Vila Real

Yann Ehrlacher scored victory in Sunday’s opening TCR World Tour race at Vila Real, which featured two safety car periods due to crashes on the track.

A cloudy sky and cooler temperatures welcomed the FIA TCR World Tour field on Sunday morning, with a slight chance of rain on the afternoon.

Mikel Azcona was slow off the blocks at the start, with Geely driver Ehrlacher coming alongside at the green light and taking the lead ahead of the Spaniard, with Ma Qing Hua and Santiago Urrutia right behind.

Jimmy Clairet also had a good start in his Audi, gaining two positions to settle in fifth place, ahead of the Cupras of Aurélien Comte and Viktor Andersson. Ehrlacher and Azcona opened a 2.5-second gap over Ma by lap three.

The safety car was called into action on lap four as Audi driver Mathieu Casalonga crashed against the barriers.

The race went green again on lap six, with two further laps added to the race length, bringing it to a total of 16 laps, and with the joker lap window extended to lap ten.

It was a tidy restart with Ehrlacher staying ahead of Azcona, Ma and Urrutia. The Frenchman opened a small gap at the front as the Spaniard defended from Ma. Further back, Comte bumped Clairet’s rear, but both remained in the race.

Ma took his first joker lap on lap eight, together with the SP Compétition Cupras. The Geely driver returned to the track side-by-side with Clairet, but stayed ahead of the Audi.

Azcona served his first joker on the following lap, losing second place to Urrutia and managing to stay ahead of Ma.

The safety car was called into action a second time on lap eleven as Jimmy Clairet and Thed Björk came together, with the Swede into the safety barriers. The Frenchman was able to eventually restart his Audi to return to the pits on his own power.

The race was relaunched on lap 13, with the positions remaining stable. Hyundai driver Norbert Michelisz was already up to sixth place ahead of Andersson, with Jenson Brickley in eighth place.

Manuel Fernandes was up to ninth, with Cupra driver Enzo Gianfratti in tenth place.

Ehrlacher and Urrutia served their second joker laps on lap 15, leaving Azcona on the lead.

The Spaniard served his second joker on the final lap, with Ehrlacher recovering the lead and Urrutia sitting in third behind the Hyundai.

Ehrlacher won at the chequered flag, with Azcona and Urrutia completing the podium.

Ma was fourth, ahead of Michelisz, who overtook Comte on the final lap. Andersson finished in seventh place, with Brickley next. Fernandes and Gianfratti completed the top ten.

After Race 1, Azcona leads the championship with 216 points, 6 ahead of Urrutia and 48 over Ehrlacher.

The TCR World Tour field returns to the track at 17:05 for Race 2.