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Hungary WTCR: Girolami doubles up in wet Race 2

Munnich Motorsport Honda driver Nestor Girolami held on to claim a second victory of the Hungaroring World Touring Car Cup weekend in a pulsating second race affected by rain.

Néstor Girolami, ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type R TCR

Néstor Girolami, ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type R TCR

WTCR

PWR Racing Cupra driver Daniel Haglof had beaten the polesitting WRT Audi of Jean-Karl Vernay into the lead at the first corner, with Thed Bjork jumping his Cyan Racing Lynk & Co into second.

From sixth on the grid, Girolami had muscled his Honda into second place by the time the pack had reached the fast Turn 4 right-hander, and set about hunting down Haglof.

Girolami made it into the lead at Turn 12 and quickly scampered clear from there, with Vernay outdragging Haglof for second on the run to the first corner at the start of the following lap.

The Race 1 winner held a healthy advantage for the remainder, and while Vernay got within half a second of the Honda in the final laps, the Audi driver backed off on the final lap.

Girolami's second win of the weekend elevates him into a shared lead of the championship with Munnich teammate Esteban Guerrieri, with Girolami ahead on countback with two wins.

Behind Vernay, the final podium spot was claimed by Haglof who, along with teammate Mikel Azcona, escaped from the chasing pack to seal a three-four finish for the PWR squad.

They had been allowed to break away from the pack in the opening stages while the BRC Racing Hyundai of Augusto Farfus attempted to fend off Yann Ehrlacher (Cyan Lynk & Co).

Having fought past Guerrieri, Nicky Catsburg (BRC Hyundai) also made a move on Ehrlacher to move into sixth.

Ehrlacher was forced to retire when the third BRC Hyundai of Gabriele Tarquini tagged his side at the first corner, while attempting to follow Catsburg through.

Catsburg later went off at Turn 12, allowing Yvan Muller - who had started 15th in his Lynk & Co - Guerrieri and Tarquini back ahead of him.

Muller briefly got as high as fifth after passing Farfus, but was then passed by Guerrieri at Turn 2 - a move which ultimately decided fifth and sixth positions.

Rob Huff steered clear of most melees to claim seventh in his Sebastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen, while Hungarian teenager Attila Tassi (KCMG Honda) finished on the Briton's tail in eighth.

Farfus survived the mayhem to finish ninth ahead of Catsburg, but BRC teammates Tarquini and Norbert Michelisz - who is due to start the final race from pole - were less fortunate.

Tarquini suffered a puncture while running seventh and Michelisz was forced to the pits after a hit from Aurelien Panis's Cupra while they squabbled over minor points-paying positions.

Race results:

Cla # Driver Chassis Gap
1 29 Argentina Nestor Girolami
Honda
2 69 France Jean-Karl Vernay
Audi 2.529
3 37 Sweden Daniel Haglof
Seat 3.507
4 96 Spain Mikel Azcona
Seat 5.260
5 86 Argentina Esteban Guerrieri
Honda 12.822
6 100 France Yvan Muller
Lynk & Co 14.721
7 12 United Kingdom Rob Huff
Volkswagen 15.245
8 9 Hungary Attila Tassi
Honda 15.766
9 8 Brazil Augusto Farfus
Hyundai 18.979
10 88 Netherlands Nick Catsburg
Hyundai 19.522
11 55 China Ma Qing Hua
Alfa Romeo 19.751
12 33 Germany Benjamin Leuchter
Volkswagen 20.676
13 21 France Aurelien Panis
Seat 21.739
14 50 Netherlands Tom Coronel
Seat 24.699
15 22 Belgium Frederic Vervisch
Audi 25.086
16 31 Italy Kevin Ceccon
Alfa Romeo 36.000
17 1 Italy Gabriele Tarquini
Hyundai 1 Lap
18 23 Hungary Tamas Tenke
Seat 3 Laps
52 United Kingdom Gordon Shedden
Audi 1 Lap
10 Netherlands Niels Langeveld
Audi 1 Lap
5 Hungary Norbert Michelisz
Hyundai 2 Laps
68 France Yann Ehrlacher
Lynk & Co 4 Laps
111 Guernsey Andy Priaulx
Lynk & Co 7 Laps
11 Sweden Thed Björk
Lynk & Co 8 Laps
25 Morocco Mehdi Bennani
Volkswagen 9 Laps
18 Portugal Tiago Monteiro
Honda 9 Laps
14 Sweden Johan Kristoffersson
Volkswagen 10 Laps

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