Jenson Brickley claimed his first TCR Europe victory in Race 2 at Portimão, going from second to first at the start and controlling an eventful race in his Monlau Motorsport CUPRA, which saw the Hondas of Felipe Fernández and Marco Butti charge through and complete the podium.

Max Hart’s Target Competition Hyundai started from pole position, but the Irish driver was outdragged into Turn 1 by Brickley’s CUPRA, while Felipe Fernández  had a  great start in his RC2 Racing Honda from sixth on the grid and was up third after the first corner.

Fernández then picked up second place from Hart at Turn 14, while Eric Gené’s second race came to an  unforrtunate early end on the second lap when he stopped  with a puncture, following contact for the second race in a row with the PMA Motorsport Audi of Felice Jelmini.

Marco Butti was soon making his way through the field, passing Junui Park’s Hyundai on lap three at Turn 4,  before there was a  safety car called on lap four following an incident between  the two Hondas of Victor Fernández and Giacomo Ghermandi, which saw Ghermandi stranded in the gravel.

The safety car period was extended when Julien Briché’s Hyundai briefly stopped on circuit, but was able to rejoin. After the restart, Brickley began to pull away again, while the fourth-placed Audi of Teddy Clairet was under attack from Butti’s Honda, with Butti making his way past at Turn 1 with five laps to go.

Butti was then able to grab the final podium place with a move on Hart’s Hyundai a lap later at Turn 3, after which Hart’s race was quickly disrupted, as he was passed by both the Clairets as well as Victor Andersson’s Lynk & Co over the last two laps.

Brickley won the race by 2.1 seconds and was also the winning young drivers’ category winner, while second-placed Fernández also picked up the Diamond Trophy victory and leads the category by one point.

FIfth place for Race 1 pole-sitter and race winner Jimmy Clairet was enough to keep the French driver in the lead of the TCR Europe drivers’ championship going to the next race weekend at Spa-Francorchamps on May 16th-17th.