Target Competition duo Andrea Belicchi and Stefano Comini celebrated a 1-2 finish in the second of Shanghai’s two TCR International Series races, with Belicchi calling the race “a lot of fun”.
Italian racer Belicchi took his first win of the season in a close-run race, losing the lead at the start only to regain it later on when early leader Gianni Morbidelli hit technical problems.
The race saw numerous close battles, with both Belicchi and Comini forced to work hard for their podium results.
“I am very proud to win such a close race, where we had great fighting, always fair-play,” said Belicchi after the race, which saw him move up to third in the drivers’ standings. “It’s a lot of fun to be back to touring car racing. After almost twenty years of absence, it is clear that I still need to adjust and get used to front-wheel drive and a different racing style. It’s coming together, although I still need to improve starts and first laps.
“The TCR was a last-minute choice for me, but I really rejoice to have made it and I think we will have a great season. I am also very happy to be with a team such as Target Competition, who does a wonderful job and has helped me a lot readapting to touring car machinery.”
Comini started the weekend with maximum 30 kg of success ballast as a result of being the early championship leader, and the Swiss racer remains within two points of new leader Morbidelli after a fighting weekend in Shanghai.
“It hasn’t been an easy weekend for the SEAT cars, as we were clearly disadvantaged in the long straights, so it’s nice to end the weekend with a 1-2 win,” said Comini. “In my case, I had also the extra-handicap of the 30 kg success ballast, which penalised me a lot in qualifying. But today’s race was a lot of fun, with a lot of fights, which is what I enjoy. The car was simply perfect.”
Michel Nykjær, Target’s third full-season entry, enjoyed a stronger weekend than in Malaysia, finishing ninth and fifth respectively in the two races and moving up to tenth in the points standings.
Target also ran a one-off fourth car for Chinese Touring Car champion Jiang Tengyi, who finished the weekend’s races in 12th and ninth respectively.
As a result of their double podium in race two, Target Competition overtake WestCoast Racing and Craft-Bamboo Racing as leaders of the teams’ classification, with a margin of eight points over the Swedish team heading to Europe.