Alex Ley had a blistering start to his TCR Europe programme at Mugello. A pole position, a win, and a second-place finish marked a near-perfect start to the season, but the BRC Racing Team driver isn’t getting complacent despite his dominant form this weekend.

Around the paddock, the 20-year-old’s rivals were shocked by his quick pace throughout the weekend. While a technical issue prevented Ley from participating in the second free practice session, that ultimately played to his benefit, as it left him with an extra fresh set of tyres to use during the two races.

“It’s a great start to the year. You can’t think about the championship after one round, but it’s a good feeling,” said Ley.

“We had new tyres for that race because we had a problem in FP2, so that made it maybe a little bit easier. With the benefit of running new tyres, it’s awesome to come away with a win and a podium: it’s a dream start.”

Ley leads the drivers’ standings on 65 points, 18 points clear of Hyundai stablemate Junesung Park going into the next weekend at Spa-Francorchamps. However, in keeping with the series' compensation weight system, he’s set to carry the maximum 40kg of ballast in the Ardennes.

View the full championship standings here.