Alex Ley’s Hyundai disrupts Audi winning streak in TCR Italy
In Vallelunga’s Race 2, Alex Ley and his Hyundai Elantra N put an end to the Audi cars’ winning streak in TCR Italy that Nicolas Taylor had stretched it to three consecutive victories in Saturday’s Race 1.
However, the championship appears to be ruled by the Audi drivers as they fill the first four spots of the standings. The reigning champion Taylor leads on 162 points, only three ahead of Nicola Baldan who has finished second in both races. In third position lies the impressive 20-year-old Pietro Alessi, 38 points behind Taylor, while Matteo Poloni follows nine further points adrift. Ley is best of the rest in fifth position with a gap of 58.
In the DSG championship, Matteo Roccadelli and Gustavo Sandrucci took one win apiece, while Eric Brigliadori has retained the lead in the standings, 11 points clear of Mattia Lancellotti, with Roccadelli and Sandrucci third and fourth with gaps of 14 and 17 points.
Both championships will resume at Monza on 20/22 June.
Race 1 – Jacopo Cimenes had claimed his maiden pole, beating Baldan by 0.081 and Taylor by 0.183, but the Honda driver stalled at the start and was collected by Ley and Michele Imberti. Taylor and Baldan led the field ahead of Ley and Gabriele Covini but the safety car was deployed at the end of lap 1 to remove the two wrecked cars of Cimenes and Imberti. After restart in lap 4, Baldan began to shadow Taylor but despite his efforts he had to settle for second behind the Canadian. Ley finished a distant third, while Alessi inherited P4 in lap 12, when Covini pitted with a flat front trye. After the race, Ley was handed a 10-second penalty for the incident at the start and dropped to sixth with Alessi, Poloni and Denis Babuin promoted to third, fourth and fifth.
Race 2 – Michał Bartoszuk’s Honda and Covini’s Hyundai shared the front row of the grid, but Ley made the best start and led from Covini, while Taylor from P5 dived on the inside of Bartoszuk moving into third. During the opening lap, Baldan passed Bartoszuk for P4, but the safety car was deployed to recover Carlo Alberto Bocca’s Audi following a collision with Sandro Pelatti. At the restart in lap 4, Taylor passed Covini for second; two laps later Covini dropped another place behind Baldan. Ley’s lead had grown to three seconds, while Baldan put the pressure on Taylor and passed him in lap 8. In the last part of the race, Baldan began to bite Ley’s advantage, but time ticked out and the Englishman won by 1.6 seconds, Taylor completed the podium.
DSG – In the first race, the SF Squadra Corse CUPRA cars of pole sitter Brigliadori and Roccadelli led at the start, with Roccadelli passing his teammate during the first lap. The pair pulled away until Brigliadori stopped with a puncture in lap 10. Roccadelli took a comfortable victory from the Casals Motorsport-run Audi cars of Sandrucci and Sebastian Gavazza. Lancellotti led Race 2 for half a lap in his Planet Motorsport Audi before he was passed by Sandrucci, Brigliadori and Roccadelli. For several laps the SF Squadra Corse pair chased Sandrucci until he managed to build a small gap and went to take his maiden victory from Brigliadori, Roccadelli and Lancellotti.
Race 1
- Nicolas Taylor (PMA Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 17 laps
- Nicola Baldan (Aikoa Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 0.800
- Pietro Alessi (BF Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 10.502
Race 2
- Alex Ley (BRC Racing Team, Hyundai Elantra N), 17 laps
- Nicola Baldan (Aikoa Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 1.637
- Nicolas Taylor (PMA Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 6.642
Championship points - SEQ
- N. Taylor, 162 pts; 2. N. Baldan, 159; 3. P. Alessi, 124
Championship points - DSG
- E. Brigliadori, 145 pts; 2. M. Lancellotti, 134; 3. M. Roccadelli, 131
Picture: ACI Sport
