Ruben Volt scored the most points for the second weekend running in the TCR Europe series, and his put himself down as a genuine contender for the drivers’ championship, just 42 points behind points leader Aurélien Comte at the halfway point of the season.

As a penalty for having the best weekend points-wise at Zolder two weeks ago, the Estonian was carrying 40kg of compensation weight this weekend aboard his ALM Motorsport-run Honda Civic Type R TCR, and in a tight qualifying session that played a part in him qualifying down in ninth place.

Volt bolted off the line in the wet but drying Race 1 and was up to third by the first corner, from which he was left to fight to hold back the CUPRA of Aurélien Comte to cling onto the podium behind his Argentinian team-mate Ignacio Montenegro.

With the top ten from qualifying reversed for Race 2, Volt started from the outside of the front row, but had his nose ahead of pole-sitter Giovanni Scamardi’s CUPRA into the Turn 1 chicane, with the Belgian cutting the corner and rejoining ahead, before deciding to hand back the lead before any potential penalty a lap later.

With Volt soon caught by team-mate Levente Losonczy, he had a rear guard in the a team-mate who he helped to victory to at Zolder when he fought off Franco Girolami, allowing him to claim his third career win in the series in just his fifth race meeting.

“With 40kg, I can’t say much more,” said Volt. “It was really a struggle, the left-front was vibrating a lot and I had bent steering from the start, and Levi (Losonczy) was standing behind me taking all the hits like I did for him at Zolder, I couldn’t ask for much more.”

Reflecting on the start, he added:

“I was in front of Scamardi at the braking into Turn 1 and he just went off, so it was the right decision of him to give me the position back.”

While Comte and Girolami are separated by just one point at the top of the points table,

Volt is clawing back the ground he lost after a mixed opening weekend of the season at Vallelunga.

“I feel confident about the championship, as we’ve now had two really good weekends, and I’m really looking forward to Spa.”