Aurélien Comte is chasing his first full TCR Europe series title this weekend at Valencia, after winning the TCR Europe Trophy when it was a standalone event in 2017, despite a difficult round at Brno.

Comte finished second to rival CUPRA driver Franco Girolami in Race 1, and had briefly snatched the final podium position from Polish driver Bartosz Groszek, before he was handed a time penalty for the contact which dropped him down the order.

Comte’s 20-point gap to Girolami was reduced to five when Girolami himself received a penalty for a safety car infringement, leaving Comte with a manageable gap should he be able to outperform the Argentinian this weekend.

“(At Brno) I had a contact with a local driver. He broke in the left corner and turned for the right and I overtook but he turned in on me and I got a penalty. It’s strange as (my team-mate) Giovanni (Scamardi) had the same situation and he got no penalty.”

Comte and Girolami then had a door-to-door battle, with minor contact as the two swapped positions.

“I had a good fight with Franco. Somehow we always end up with contact, but it’s touring cars, it’s OK. Now, it’s a long time since I’ve driven at Valencia, but I like the track, I hope it’ll be OK for us.”