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Esteban
Guerrieri survived a multi-car accident to claim a hard-fought second-place
finish in the first WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup race of the weekend on
the streets of Vila Real.
After a delay of over two hours from the original start due to
an opening-lap incident that involved over half the field, the action
resumed with the ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport driver slotting into
second place early on and never losing his position.
His result was all the more remarkable as his Honda Civic Type
R TCR had sustained significant damage in the original incident, in which
his team-mates Yann Ehrlacher and James Thompson – who had started fourth
and 11th – were also involved.
While the cars of Yann and James were unfortunately too
heavily-damaged to take the restart and remain a doubt for tomorrow’s pair
of races, the Münnich mechanics all descended on Esteban’s machine and
incredibly had it race-ready.
The day’s results mean that Yann and the Münnich team lie
second in the Drivers’ and Teams’ Championships while Esteban has climbed
to sixth in the standings.
Boutsen Ginion Racing’s Benjamin Lessennes and Tom Coronel
were lucky to survive the first-lap melee without serious damage.
Benjamin turned his 14th-place qualifying result into seventh
place in the race on what was his first time competing on the Vila Real
street circuit in Portugal. Tom was also on course for a top-10 finish when
he was forced to stop in the pits with a faulty electrical cable.
Jose Rodrigues and Target Competition are making their WTCR
debuts in a 2017-specification Civic Type R TCR.
After making strong progress into the second practice session,
the Portuguese driver holed his sump guard after running over a large kerb
and was forced to miss qualifying while the damage was repaired. His race
lasted just a few laps as his car developed a gearbox issue.
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