Nicolas Taylor and Eric Brigliadori secure TCR Italy titles
PMA Motorsport’s Nicolas Taylor and SF Squadra Corse’s Eric Brigliadori were crowned TCR Italy champions at Misano, in the SEQ and the DSG series respectively. They both secured the title finishing second Saturday in their respective races, but they wanted to end the season in style on Sunday. Taylor was able to celebrate his second consecutive title with his fifth victory of the season, while Brigliadori failed to imitate the young Canadian due to a flat tyre on the last lap, and was second again behind Gustavo Sandrucci.
Michele Imberti in the SEQ championship and Matteo Roccadelli in the DSG were victorious in the first races; it was the second win for Imberti in the Kombat Motorsport Hyundai Elantra and the third for Roccadelli’s SF Squadra Corse CUPRA.
Race 1 – Gabriele Covini had won his second pole after Imola, beating local hero Imberti by 97 thousandths for an all-Hyundai front row. Title contenders Taylor and Nicola Baldan had qualified in P4 and P9 respectively. At the start, Imberti was faster than Covini who was also passed by Taylor; the safety car was deployed at the end of the first lap to recover Giacomo Ghermandi’s Honda after an incident with his teammate Michał Bartoszuk. Racing resumed in lap 4; behind the three leaders Filippo Barberi had climbed to fourth after a great start from P7 and was followed by Pietro Alessi, Alex Ley and Baldan. Positions were shuffled, with Alessi taking the lead of the quartet ahead of Ley, Baldan and Barberi.
Up front, Imberti built a gap, while Covini put the pressure on Taylor; Baldan overtook Ley for fifth in lap 10 and closed in on Alessi. In lap 15, Covini retired with a broken steering, then Alessi and Baldan made contact, with Baldan moving into P3. Imberti won by 5.6 seconds over Taylor who secured the title before the last race.
Race 2 – Matteo Poloni had the pole of the reversed grid, with Barberi alongside; Poloni had a slow reflex and Barberi led from Ley and Taylor who had made a great start from P5. Taylor benefited from the fight between Barberi and Ley for taking the lead. During the first lap, Barberi and Alessi made contact; Barberi retired while Alessi moved into P4 between Imberti and Cosimo Barberini, but one lap later he spun and lost four places. Behind Taylor, Imberti overtook Ley for second in lap 4; in the following lap Giacomo Prandelli spun after a contact with Sandro Pelatti and t-boned Ghermandi’s Honda that crashed into the barriers and landed on top of Prandelli’s Audi. The safety car was deployed, but after two laps the red flag was waved to repair the barriers.
The race was restarted behind the safety car, and the green flag was waved with nine minutes to go with Barberini slowing down and dropping down from P4 to the back of the field. In lap 13, the second-placed Imberti too retired with a smoking engine. Up front, Taylor held on to the lead and won from Ley, Baldan and Covini, who was dropped to ninth by a ten-second penalty for jump start.
DSG – Despite a grid penalty and a broken suspension, Eric Brigliadori was crowned champion after Race 1 in which he finished second behind his teammate Matteo Roccadelli who led from lights to flag and scored his third win of the season. Brigliadori looked set to finish with a victory in Race 2, but on the final lap he lost the left front wheel and was passed by Gustavo Sandrucci before the last turn.
Race 1
- Michele Imberti (Kombat Motorsport, Hyundai Elantra N), 17 laps
- Nicolas Taylor (PMA Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 5.627
- Nicola Baldan (AIKOA Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 8.231
Race 2
- Nicolas Taylor (PMA Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 17 laps
- Alex Ley (BRC Squadra Corse, Hyundai Elantra N), 3.178
- Nicola Baldan (AIKOA Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 3.487
Championship points - SEQ
- N. Taylor, 425; 2. N. Baldan,396; 3. A. Ley, 343
Championship points - DSG
- E. Brigliadori, 470 pts.; 2. M. Roccadelli, 416; 3. G. Sandrucci, 376
Picture: ACI Sport
