Baldan and Volt win at Pergusa, but Tavano is the new leader

The first visit of TCR Italy to Pergusa saw Nicola Baldan and Ruben Volt sharing race wins. Baldan, who had finished second in Race 1, inherited the victory thanks to a penalty handed to Salvatore Tavano, while Volt took a lights-to-flag win in Race 2, his second success in seven days after that in TCR Europe at the Salzburgring.

Despite being stripped of the victory, Tavano has taken the lead of the standings thanks to the points scored for pole position, fourth in Race 1 and second in Race 2. The former Italian champion has already built a 30-point lead over Nicolas Taylor, while Junui Park, Ruben Volt and Michele Imberti follow, all 9 further points behind.

Tavano’s team Scuderia del Girasole has appealed against the penalty.

Race 1 – After setting pole position in a close qualifying that saw the first nine drivers covered by eight tenths, Tavano scored his first victory of the season, crossing the line 1.1 seconds ahead of Baldan, with Imberti in third position.

However, after the race the Stewards handed a five second penalty to Tavano for slowing down at the restart after a safety car intervention, which dropped him to fourth. Imberti received the same penalty for overtaking Taylor before the finishing line when the race resumed. These penalties promoted Baldan, Taylor and Volt to first, second and third. Alex Ley, who was leading the championship after the season opener at Misano, retired with an engine problem.

Race 2 – Volt had the pole on the reversed grid and led for the whole distance. During the final part of the race, the Estonian youngster rejected the assaults from Tavano and Imberti who had moved up from eighth and fifth from the grid respectively.

The race was disrupted once, when Baldan’s Audi caught fire; the winner of Race 1 was running in second position, following Volt closely; his sudden slowing down caught Junui Park by surprise and the Korean crashed into the back of the Audi.      

DSG – In the first race, the 19-year-old Luca Verdi (Planet Motorsport, Audi) converted the pole position into his maiden win, beating Alessandro Alcidi (Tuder Motorsport, Volkswagen) and Paolo Maria Silvestrini (Progetto E20, Audi). The latter was then victorious in Race 2, from Luca Franca (Aikoa Racing, Audi) and Matteo Roccadelli (RPM Performance, CUPRA). Alcidi leads the standings by ten points over Franca.

The two championships will resume at Mugello, 12/14 July.

Pergusa – Race 1

1. Nicola Baldan (Aikoa Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 16 laps
2. Nicolas Taylor (PMA Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 1.070
3. Ruben Volt (ALM Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 2.778

Pergusa – Race 2

1. Ruben Volt (ALM Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 14 laps
2. Salvatore Tavano (Scuderia Girasole, CUPRA Leon VZ), 0.272
3. Michele Imberti (Kombat Motorsport, Hyundai Elantra N), 0.686

Championship points

1. S. Tavano, 146 pts; 2. N. Taylor, 116; 3. Junui Park, 107.

DSG Championship points

1. A. Alcidi, 152 pts; 2. L. Franca, 142; 3. PM. Silvestrini, 126.

Picture: ACI Sport