Volt claims a double win in TCR Spain pre-season event

ALM Motorsport’s Ruben Volt began the season in style, claiming a double victory at Valencia’s Circuit Ricardo Tormo in TCR Spain’s pre-season event. At the wheel of his Honda Civic FL5, the young Estonian dominated the field, setting pole position in both the qualifying sessions and comfortably winning the races.

His main rival, Felipe Fernández in the RC2 Motorsport-run Honda, endured a difficult weekend, as he lost a wheel on the last lap of Race 1 and served a penalty in Race 2. This helped TCR UK regulars Steven and Sam Laidlaw to finish on the podium twice in their Area Motorsport CUPRA Leon VZ cars.

Miguel Ángel Romero (Casal Competición, CUPRA DSG) and Adrián Agote (Team VRT, Peugeot 308 Racing Cup) shared wins in the Cup for Gen 1 cars.

Race 1 – Volt had set the pole, beating Felipe Fernández by 0.380 seconds; Guillaume Savoldelli and Victor Fernández had qualified third and fourth, but the latter did not start following a technical issue that had stopped him in the second qualifying. At the start, Volt led from Felipe Fernández, while Savoldelli lost three positions during the first lap as he was passed by Steve and Sam Laidlaw and by Sandro Pelatti. A four-way battle for P3 ensued, with Sam Laidlaw overtaking his father in lap 5, while Pelatti went off at T6 and rejoined in eighth. From lap 10, focus shifted on the fight for P4 between Steve Laidlaw and Savoldelli who swapped positions a few times. Up front, Volt built a 2.5-second margin over Fernández who lost a rear wheel and spun off during the last lap, which promoted Sam Laidlaw to second, while his father kept Savoldelli at bay for third.

Race 2 – The front row of the grid was the same, with Volt and Felipe Fernández split by 0.229 seconds, while Sam and Steven Laidlaw filled the second row. Fernández pipped Volt at the start and during the first lap he held on to the lead rejecting his rival’s attacks, but in lap 2, Volt overtook him at T11 and pulled away. Then Fernández served a drive-through for jump-start and dropped down. Behind Volt, Steven Laidlaw drove a solitary race to finish a distant second, while Savoldelli and Sam Laidlaw delivered a thrilling battle for P3. During the last three laps, Pelatti joined the pair, but eventually Sam Laidlaw who had had a slow start, dropping from third to fifth, overtook Savoldelli to complete the podium.

TCR Spain’s actual championship season will kick off at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on 15/16 March.

Race 1

1. R. Volt (ALM Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 16 laps
2. Sam Laidlaw (Area Motorsport, CUPRA Leon VZ), 29.903
3. Steven Laidlaw (Area Motorsport, CUPRA Leon VZ), 37.247

Race 2

1. R. Volt (ALM Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 16 laps
2. Steven Laidlaw (Area Motorsport, CUPRA Leon VZ), 24.961
3. Sam Laidlaw (Area Motorsport, CUPRA Leon VZ), 29.409

Picture: TCR Spain/Fotocar13