Montenegro and Barberi wins TCR Spain’s races in Portugal

Ignacio Montenegro and Filippo Barberi were victorious in TCR Spain’s races at Estoril on Saturday. Montenegro and his ALM Motorsport Honda Civic inherited the victory in Race 1 when his teammate Levente Losonczy lost the lead as he followed the safety car into the pit lane by mistake. Barberi claimed his maiden win in Race 2, leading from lights to flag after a flashing start from P3 at the wheel of his Aikoa Racing Audi RS 3 LMS.

The battle for the title became closer with three drivers covered by nine points on top of the standings that are led by Jenson Brickley with a margin of five points over Erik Zabala and Montenegro in third position.

Race 1 – Eric Gené had topped qualifying with a lap of 1:45.608, beating Montenegro by less than three tenths. Gené led the field at the start but was immediately under pressure from Montenegro and Losonczy. During the first lap Gené and Montenegro made contact as the Spaniard rejected the assault; Losonczy benefited from the clash to pass both and take the lead. In lap 2, Gené was passed by Montenegro and Brickley, dropping to fourth. Behind the leading quartet there was a fight for P5 between Miguel Ángel Romero, Barberi and Marco Aguilera; Aguilera overtook Barberi and then clashed with Romero. They both went off and the safety car was deployed for two laps. When racing restarted, Losonczy was confused by the hazard-lights on and followed the safety car into the pit lane, rejoining at the back. Montenegro inherited the lead, while Gené and Brickley were fighting for second. They made contact, Brickley spun and dropped to fourth behind Zabala. Up front, Montenegro held on to the lead despite Gené’s effort to close the gap and won by one second; Zabala completed the podium, while Brickley kept Barberi at bay to finish fourth.

Race 2 – Daniel Teixeira and Sandro Pelatti shared the front row of the top ten reversed grid, but it was Barberi who sprinted from P3 on the grid and led at the start. Behind him, Pelatti and Teixeira were swallowed by the pack, with Zabala, Brickley and Gené moving up to second, third and fourth. Barberi benefited from the fights and pulled away, while Aguilera, Losonczy and Montenegro joined the battle for P3. In lap 5, Losonczy retired with a technical issue and one lap later there was contact between Aguilera and Montenegro, with the Spaniard spinning and rejoining at the back. Montenegro dropped to fifth, behind Teixeira, but regained the fourth place in lap 9. In lap 11, Gené stopped along the track while he was fourth. Barberi took the chequered flag 3.2 seconds ahead of Zabala, with Brickley third and Montenegro fourth. After the race Montenegro was handed a 30-second penalty for the incident with Aguilera and dropped to tenth.

TCR Spain’s next event will be at Valencia on 5/6 October.

Estoril – Race 1

1. Ignacio Montenegro (ALM Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 14 laps
2. Eric Gené (Monlau Motorsport, CUPRA Leon VZ), 1.016
3. Erik Zabala (Monlau Motorsport, CUPRA Leon VZ), 11.613

Estoril – Race 2

1. Filippo Barberi (Aikoa Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 15 laps
2. Erik Zabala (Monlau Motorsport, CUPRA Leon VZ), 3.220
3. Jenson Brickley (Brickley Motorsport, CUPRA Leon VZ), 6.287

Championship points

1. J. Brickley, 134; 3. E. Zabala, 129; 3. I. Montenegro, 122.

Picture: TCR Spain