Alex Ley takes TCR Europe race two victory at Monza

Alex Ley withstood two late safety car restarts and a puncture to claim victory in a dramatic second TCR Europe race at Monza, as Marco Butti moved into the points lead.

BRC Racing Team Hyundai driver Ley started second on the grid and led all but one lap of the race, coming home just under a second clear of PMA Motorsport’s Nicola Baldan.

Baldan’s team-mate Nicolas Taylor, meanwhile, endured late heartache after coming to a stop at the exit of the second chicane, which set up a final-lap shootout for the win.

Taylor’s retirement had greater significance for the drivers’ title chase, with Butti moving into the lead of the standings heading into the final round of the year at Barcelona.

With his victory, Ley now sits second in the standings, 11 points adrift of Monlau Motorsport’s Butti, while Taylor – who could have wrapped up the title at Monza this weekend – 19 points off the lead in third.

A 10-second post-race penalty for Ley and a grid drop for Solite Racing Team’s Junesung Park, both for contact in the opening encounter, gave the reversed race two race a slightly different look.

Ley dropped to sixth in the race one standings but lined up on the front-row of the grid for Sunday’s final race alongside polesitter Marco Butti.

Butti got off the line well and fended off the attention of Ley on the run towards the first corner.

With less compensation weight aboard his Hyundai Elantra N TCR, Ley was soon all over the back of Butti at the start of the second lap and breezed past into the lead under braking for turn one.

As Ley made quick his escape at the front, Butti came under increasing pressure from Mikhail Simonov (SP Compétition Cupra) behind.

Both Simonov and Nicola Baldan (PMA Motorsport Audi RS 3 LMS) wasted little time getting ahead of Butti, who was carrying 30kg of additional weight.

Baldan then made a move on Simonov at the first corner to grab second place as Ley established a healthy lead of over two seconds at the head of the field.

That advantage did not last long, however, as the safety car was deployed around the halfway marker after Viktor Andersson ground to a halt exiting the Roggia chicane.

Ley got a good jump at the restart with six minutes remaining, with Baldan managing to hold off Simonov for second before the safety car came out again, this time for Taylor’s Audi which came to a stop with just three minutes to go.

Ley held his nerve in a final-lap shootout to claim the victory from Baldan and Simonov, and was left counting his blessings after the flag as his Hyundai suffered a front-left puncture.

Behind, there was further drama as Gabriele Covini and Adam Shepherd came to blows at the second chicane.

Butti finished just off the podium in fourth, with Julien Briché a terrific fifth place ahead of race one winner Junui Park.

Mike Halder finished seventh for ALM Motorsport, edging out Junesung Park and Tiago Pernía (Squadra Martino) who capped off a strong recovery drive after a difficult weekend.

Completing the top 10 finishers was Felipe Fernández for RC2 Team.