Taylor wins Imola’s Race 2 and closes in on Baldan
TCR Italy’s reigning champion Nicolas Taylor has taken his third win of the season in Imola’s second race, reducing his gap from the leader Nicola Baldan to six points.
In Saturday’s Race 1, the Canadian youngster had driven his PMA Motorsport Audi to the second place behind Alex Ley’s BRC-run Hyundai Elantra N, with Baldan’s Aikoa Racing Audi classified seventh after an incident in the last lap. On Sunday, Taylor took the lead from Baldan in the early stages and took a comfortable victory.
Matteo Poloni is still third in the standings, 52 points behind Baldan.
SF Squadra Corse teammates Eric Brigliadori and Matteo Roccadelli were in a league of their own in the DSG championship. With victory in Race 1 and second in Race 2, Brigliadori has stretched his lead in the standings to 35 points over Roccadelli who was victorious in the second race.
Race 1 – Gabriele Covini had claimed his maiden pole, only nine thousandths ahead of his teammate Ley, with championship returnee Cosimo Barberini third fastest. At the start, under a light rain, Barberini sprinted to the lead, but Ley overtook him into the first chicane. Behind them, Taylor and Poloni passed Covini for P3 and P4, but rain intensified, and the safety car was deployed. The rain eased and racing resumed in lap 5, with Ley chased by Barberini and Taylor. In lap 6, Barberini retired with electrical issues, while Ley pulled away from Taylor. Focus shifted on the battle for third place between Poloni, Covini and Pietro Alessi. In lap 12, Covini made a mistake and Alessi overtook him, but during the last lap Covini retook the position after a contact at the Tosa. Another contact involved Denis Babuin and Baldan who dropped from sixth to ninth. Both, Covini and Babuin were handed 5-second penalties that demoted them to 9th and 10th.
Race 2 – Babuin and Baldan shared the front row of the reversed grid; too much wheelspin for Babuin at the start meant he was passed by Baldan and Taylor from P3. During the first lap Taylor overtook Baldan for the lead, while three different incidents saw Jacopo Cimenes spinning after being hit by Alessi who was given a five-second penalty, Filippo Barberi out at the Acque Minerali and Francesco Cardone in the gravel at the Variante Alta. The safety car circulated for one lap but after another lap a huge crash at the Tamburello between Michał Bartoszuk and Filippo Maria Zanin forced the race to be red-flagged for repairing the barriers. The race resumed behind the safety car, and Taylor soon built up a solid lead ahead of Baldan, while a six-car train delivered a thrilling battle for P3. Eventually, Babuin completed the podium ahead of Poloni, Barberini and Ley.
DSG – Mattia Lancellotti had been fastest in Qualifying, but he was disqualified for a technical infringement; Brigliadori inherited the pole and claimed a lights-to-flag win. Roccadelli lost the second place after going wide at the Rivazza in lap 8; he dropped behind Gustavo Sandrucci and Lancellotti who finished in the order, with Lancellotti completing an outstanding recovery from last on the grid. Roccadelli and Brigliadori dominated the second race starting from P6 and P8, while Lancellotti encored the recovery from last to third.
The Italian championships will resume on 12/14 September at Mugello.
Race 1
- Alex Ley (BRC Squadra Corse, Hyundai Elantr N), 15 laps
- Nicolas Taylor (PMA Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 4.104
- Matteo Poloni (Gear Works, Audi RS 3 LMS), 12.496
Race 2
- Nicolas Taylor (PMA Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 14 laps
- Nicola Baldan (Aikoa Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 2.542
- Denis Babuin (Planet Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 7.758
Championship points - SEQ
- N. Baldan, 294 pts; 2. N. Taylor, 288; 3. M. Poloni, 242
Championship points - DSG
- E. Brigliadori, 330 pts; 2. M. Roccadelli, 295; 3. G. Sandrucci, 268.
Picture: ACI Sport
