Yuri Brigliadori scores victory in Misano opener on TCR Italy debut

Yuri Brigliadori enjoyed a dream debut in TCR Italy with victory in the opening race of the weekend at Misano.

Brigliadori, the younger brother of reigning DSG champion Eric, had joined the BF Motorsport outfit to race an Audi RS 3 LMS in the event and showed his pace immediately as he stormed to pole in qualifying.

A lap of 1:40.462s saw him edge out fellow Audi driver Matteo Poloni for pole, with his title rival – and current points leader – Michele Imberti having to settle for third.

When the lights went out it was Brigliadori who held the lead, with the Cupra of Mikhail Simonov vaulting up into second spot as he cleared Poloni and Imberti at the wheel of his Cupra.

Poloni slotted into third from Imberti, with Sandro Pellet and Denis Babuin rounding out the early top six.

Brigliadori wasted little time in establishing a lead at the front as he eased clear of Simonov through the early laps, with the Russian driver in turn able to race clear of the battle for third.

Poloni found himself under plenty of pressure from Imberti, with the battle between the pair allowing the pack behind to stay in close contention.

Brigliadori continued to control proceedings from the front as he extended his advantage out to more than three seconds, but his lead was eradicated when the safety car was called out to recover Ramazan Kaya’s Audi from the gravel.

The race resumed with little over eleven minutes left on the clock and Brigliadori’s hold on the lead was soon broken when he appeared to make a small error that opened the door for Simonov to sweep through into the lead.

Behind, Imberti was pushing hard to try and get ahead of Poloni, but was unable to find a way through, with Pelatti and Cosimo Barberini now rounding out the top six after the latter got ahead of Babuin.

Simonov’s time at the front would last barely a lap before Brigliadori’s superior pace saw him regain the lead on lap eleven, with the only other change towards the front coming a lap later when Pelatti ran slightly wide and Barberini swept through to take fifth.

A clash between Francesco Cardone and Antonio Cetera then saw the safety car called out a second time, with Citera having been tipped into a spin by Marco Pellegrini before being collected by the following Cardone – leaving both cars stricken on the circuit.

As the field circulated behind the safety car, there was drama for Imberti when his car suddenly slowed to create a split in the field, although he was able to get the Hyundai back up to speed and reclaimed his position in the train of cars as racing resumed with less than two minutes left on the clock.

This time, Brigliadori kept Simonov behind as Poloni and Imberti went wheel-to-wheel for thirds with Imberti pulling alongside more than once but not being able to open the door enough to get ahead, with Barberini instead threatening to take away his fourth spot.

A heavy off for Petr Cozek on the penultimate lap left yellow flags flying on the final tour as Brigliadori ultimately took victory by the comfortable margin of nearly three seconds, with Simonov able to keep Poloni at bay to take second.

Imberti had to settle for fourth from Barberini, with Pelatti in sixth.