Halder and Piirimägi share TCR Spain victories at Aragón
Mike Halder and Sten-Dorian Piirimägi took a win each at the second event of TCR Spain at MotorLand Aragón.
Penalties for track limits became a crucial factor. They stripped Ruben Volt of victory in Race 1 and were set to drop Halder from second to sixth in Race 2 until the Stewards cancelled four of the five seconds previously imposed to the German driver. Volt was the most affected, as he was given ten seconds in both races, which dropped him from first to fifth in race 1 and from fourth to 11th in Race 2.
These results mean that Eric Gené – twice fourth – keeps the lead of the standings on 139 points, eleven ahead of Halder.
Race 1 – Halder had topped Qualifying, just five-thousandths of a second faster than Jenson Brickley, while points leader Gené qualified 11th.
Halder didn’t start well and battled with Brickley and Volt into T1. Volt took the lead, while Halder and Brickley duelled for second. Brickley eventually conceded to Halder and settled into third place, but by now Volt had built over a second lead. Gené was making fast progress from 11th, passing Michael Markussen for sixth on lap 3, then he was let past by teammate Erik Zabala for fifth place.
Up front, Volt was caught by Halder who was applying pressure, while Brickley was being chased by Felipe Fernández, with Gené also closing in on the final laps. As Volt fought to keep a gap to Halder, he was pushing hard and went wide on several occasions, which resulted in a ten second penalty for breaches of track’s limits. This meant Halder just had to sit behind Volt during the final laps, and though Volt got to the chequered flag first, he fell to fifth in the final order. Halder inherited the win, with Brickley and Felipe Fernández completing the podium.
Race 2 – Guillaume Savoldelli was on pole alongside Victor Fernández. Savoldelli had a bad start, while Fernández stalled, causing commotion. Rubén Fernández took the lead from P4 on the grid ahead of Piirimägi. The Estonian overtook Fernández on the first lap, with Markussen moving into second; however, as Markussen was fighting with Rubén Fernández, Felipe Fernández passed the pair of them for P2. Volt then moved up into third, while Zabala was up to fourth. Volt didn’t have as much pace as in Race 1 and struggled to hold back Zabala who ran wide, allowing Halder into fourth place.
The safety car was called as Demir Eröge’s Honda became stranded in the gravel; competition resumed three laps later, with Halder diving past Volt to take third, but the safety car was out again as Sébastien Thome crashed and sustained heavy damage to his Audi. The long recovery meant there were just two laps of racing left. Halder overtook Felipe Fernández for second, while Piirimagi was able to build a safe margin and went on to claim his maiden victory, while Halder finished second with Felipe Fernández third ahead of Gené.
The next event will be at Valencia’s Circuit Ricardo Tormo, when TCR Spain will share the bill with the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour.
Race 1
- Mike Halder (TPR Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 13 laps
- Jenson Brickley (Monlau Motorsport, CUPRA Leon VZ), 1.643
- Felipe Fernández (RC2 Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 7.610
Race 2
- Sten Dorian Piirimägi (ALM Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 11 laps
- Mike Halder (TPR Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 1.977
- Felipe Fernández (RC2 Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 2.465
Championship points
- E. Gené, 139 pts; 2. M. Halder, 128; 3. F. Fernández, 100
Picture: TCR Spain/Carlos Casimiro
