Stefano Comini says he is pleased to have delivered ‘more of a show’ at his ‘home’ race of the TCR International Series at Imola, with the defending champion scoring his first win of the season.
Leopard Racing’s Comini took victory in an eventful race one, ahead of last year’s main title rival Pepe Oriola, to give his title defence a real boost.
Comini benefitted when early race leader Gianni Morbidelli retired from the race with technical issues, leaving the Swiss racer to fend off Oriola for the second half of the race.
The second race once again featured Comini and Oriola battling, this time in the mid-pack. The Volkswagen racer dropped as low as seventh by the mid-stage of the race, getting embroiled in several battles for position, before clawing his way back into a podium position to finish in third at the end – crucially again ahead of Oriola, who took the chequered flag in fifth.
“We continue to make progress on the car front and with the team,” said Comini, who is now second in the drivers’ championship, 15 points behind Oriola. “After JK [Vernay] won in Spa, now we have another win here in Imola, which proves we are improving all the time. That’s our target for the season.
“This is my seventh win in this category and I hope to make it into double figures soon. I am the reigning champion and I want to hang on to my title.
“We managed race one perfectly, even after the Safety Car period. The fight with Pepe was very fair and quite fun. I wanted a little more combat with him, but I was faster as I think he had stressed his tyres. I wanted more of a show for the people watching at home and the people here in Imola.
“Race two was much more ‘Oppacoministyle’ as I had to fight my way up the order and it was much more fun with a lot of overtaking and really close battles.
“A big thank you to Team Leopard and WRT, who as usual gave it 200% to provide me with a competitive and consistent car, which was always capable of dealing with whatever the race threw at me. I’d like to say however, ‘sorry for the wait’.”