In a breathtaking second race, Gabriele Tarquini claimed victory at the wheel of his BRC Racing Hyundai i30 N, but Aurélien Comte in the Peugeot 308 finished second and scored the 25 points for the TCR Europe Trophy. This was enough for him to grab the European title.
Starting from tenth of the reverse grid, Tarquini put in a great show to recover and managed to take the lead in the ninth of the 20 laps. It was not an easy task, because the fight for the lead saw a close battle between Comte, Antti Buri (LMS Racing Audi) and Maxime Potty (WRT Volkswagen), while the Target Competition duo of Josh Files and Giacomo Altoè was chasing the Hyundai.
Eventually, Tarquini used all his experience to overtake Comte, while Files took a risk to pass Potty and Buri, which he paid dearly. In fact, he was given a penalty that spoiled his chances of winning the trophy.
With Tarquini well ahead, Comte and Giacomo Altoè had a close fight for the second place that was worth the title. They finished in the order and on equal points, but Comte was crowned the champion for the better results (third and first, against Altoè’s two second places).
Giovanni Altoè took a second victory in the DSG class and won the special trophy, while Target Competition won the Teams’ Trophy.

Key facts
Start – Thoma starts well from pole, but Comte overtakes him at Turn 1
Lap 1 – Buri, Potty and Ferrara overtake Thoma who drops to fifth; Thoma retakes fourth from Ferrara
Lap 2 – Tarquini and Files climb to fifth and sixth ahead of Ferrara and Giacomo Altoè
Lap 4 – Tarquini and Files overtake Thoma for fourth and fifth
Lap 5 – Tarquini joins the leading trio of Comte, Buri and Potty
Lap 6 – Giacomo Altoè overtakes Thoma for sixth; Pelatti overtakes Tolkachev for 2^nd in the DSG class
Lap 7 – The top five – Comte, Buri, Potty, Tarquini and Files – are covered by 1.8 seconds
Lap 8 – Tarquini overtakes Potty for third
Lap 9 – Tarquini overtakes Buri for second
Lap 10 – Files dives inside Potty at Turn 1, but hits Buri who spins and retires
Lap 11 – Tarquini takes the lead from Comte who is chased by Files; Giacomo Altoè overtakes Potty for fourth
Lap 12 – Dionisio overtakes Tolkachev for third in DSG
Lap 13 – Files overtakes Comte for second
Lap 14 – Files is given a drive-through for his incident with Buri and rejoins in 9^th position
Lap 16 – Files overtakes Engstler for 8^th
Lap 17 – Kralev stops on the track with a technical issue
Lap 18 – Files overtakes Abreu for 7^th
Lap 19 – Comte defends his second position from Giacomo Altoè
Lap 20 – Tarquini wins the race, Comte keeps Giacomo Altoè at bay for second, Potty is fourth ahead of Thoma and Ferrara; Giovanni Altoè wins again in the DSG class