Hart and Jelmini claim TCR Europe maiden wins at Hockenheim
Max Hart and Felici Jelmini claimed their maiden TCR Europe victories at Hockenheim making six different winners in the first six races of the season.
Hart won Saturday’s race in his Target Competition Hyundai Elantra building a small lead while the drivers behind were fighting for the positions. Starting Race 2 from P11, Jelmini made a risky bet with four wet tyres on his PMA Motorsport Audi RS 3 LMS; it paid off and he dominated the race that finished behind the safety car under pouring rain.
Points leader Jimmy Clairet made the most out of the weekend steering away of troubles; two third places meant that he remains on top of the standings, 24 points ahead of his brother Teddy, with Eric Gené in third position, 29 points behind.
Race 1 – Marco Butti had taken his first pole in a damp-to-wet qualifying, beating Nicola Baldan by two tenths. However, Butti bogged down at the start, allowing Baldan to lead, with Gené and Hart following in third and fourth. Butti then locked up at T6 and fell behind both Gené and Hart, while Jean-Laurent Navarro spun around Filippo Barberi in an incident that involved Pierre-Arnaud Navarro and Victor Fernández.
Hart overtook Gené for second just before the safety car was called to recover Jean-Laurent Navarro’s car, while Pierre-Arnaud was called in to fix body damage. At the restart, Hart snatched the lead from Baldan, with Gené following him into second; behind the leaders, Nicolas Taylor hit Santiago Concepción’s car, knocking him out of fifth place. Butti took third from Baldan, while Concepción made contact with Junui Park and both fell down the order. Jimmy Clairet passed Taylor for fifth and the Canadian was then passed by Ruben Volt and Teddy Clairet as well.
Butti overtook Gené and closed down on race leader Hart; Baldan too passed Gené. A few laps later, Jimmy Clairet passed Gené and set off chasing Baldan. Meanwhile, Teddy Clairet retired after a collision with Taylor. At the front, Hart had settled into a comfortable lead ahead of Butti, while Jimmy Clairet grabbed third from Baldan after a daring move at T8 and finished close behind Butti.
After the race, the Stewards handed a ten-second penalty to Taylor for his incident with Concepción and dropped the Canadian from eighth to 13th.
Race 2 – Felipe Fernández and Jimmy Clairet shared the front row. Under a light rain, the majority of the field opted for wet tyres on the rear and slicks on the front; some dared to go with full slicks and only Jelmini went for full wets.
Pole-sitter Fernández, with full slicks, led at the start, while Volt overtook Jimmy Clairet. Jelmini was up to third by the end of the first lap; then Volt and Jelmini went past Fernández in lap 2. Jelmini then passed Volt for the lead and began building a gap. Butti overtook Jimmy Clairet on lap 3 and then Fernández who was the only driver to stay on slicks, with all the others coming in to change to wets. Butti moved up to second on lap 5, passing Volt, before the rain came back in full force on lap 8 and caught many drivers out. Volt and Jimmy Clairet ran wide, allowing Hart past the pair of them. Then Taylor and Felipe Fernández both crashed out at T12; the safety car was called with five minutes left and led the field until the end. Jelmini took a comfortable win, Butti was set to finish second, but he spun off on the final lap behind the safety car, promoting Hart to second and Jimmy Clairet to third.
The next event of TCR Europe takes place at Misano on 27-29 June
Race 1
- Max Hart (Target Competition, Hyundai Elantra N), 14 laps
- Marco Butti (MM Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 3.555
- Jimmy Clairet (Team Clairet Sport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 3.976
Race 2
- Felice Jelmini (PMA Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 12 laps
- Max Hart (Target Competition, Hyundai Elantra N), 8.113
- Jimmy Clairet (Team Clairet Sport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 11.920
Championship points
- T. Clairet, 131 pts; 2. J. Clairet, 107; 3. E. Gené, 102
Picture: TCR Europe
