Mikhail Simonov wins twice at Mugello as title fight heats up
Mikhail Simonov made it two out of two wins from his TCR Italy debut weekend at Mugello, charging from seventh on the reversed grid of race two.
The race was started behind the safety car due to a damp track and Cupra driver Sandro Pelatti headed the field from pole.
MM Motorsport driver Marco Pellegrini attacked Carlo Alberto Bocca to snatch second place at Turn 1 on lap two.
Simonov was quick to charge up to third place by the end of lap two and shadowed Pelatti and Pellegrini who fought for the lead.
Pellegrini attacked Pelatti for the lead at Turn 1 on lap three, only for Simonov to grab the opportunity by both hands and pass both of them for the lead.
Honda driver Pellegrini had to restart his fight with Cupra driver Pelatti, making the move stick for second place a lap later.
Pelatti dropped another place down to fourth as Matteo Poloni squeezed past a couple of corners later.
Disaster struck Cosimo Barberini, who qualified on pole for the first race, who retired with a technical issue on lap four.
Simonov won the race just over a second ahead of Pellegrini while Poloni was three seconds behind in third.
Pelatti came home in fourth ahead of Bocca while points leader Michele Imberti (Hyundai) drove a quiet race to round off the top six.
Imberti remains in the lead of the drivers’ championship on 268 points, but Poloni has closed the gap to trail his title rival by just seven points.
The penultimate TCR Italy race of 2026 takes place at Misano on September 19-20.
