Stefano Comini took his first victory of the 2016 TCR International Series in an eventful race at Imola, ahead of Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Pepe Oriola as early leader Gianni Morbidelli exited the race in spectacular fashion.
Poleman Morbidelli led the early stages of the race, but slowed dramatically on the fifth lap of the race with power steering issues. The WestCoast Racing driver was then dramatically collected by team-mate Alain Menu, who was running in eighth at the time.
The incident left Menu out of the race with a broken right-rear wheel, whilst Morbidelli limped back to the pits with both power steering issues and a broken left-rear wheel.
The safety car was called on for one lap in order to aid the recovery of Menu’s car, and when the race resumed it was Leopard Racing’s Comini who led, having got the jump on Oriola and Liqui Moly Team Engstler’s Davit Kajaia at the start.
Oriola took the chequered flag in second, despite applying late-race pressure to the Swiss, ahead of Kajaia in third, who claimed his first TCR podium. The Georgian racer had actually got the jump on Oriola at the start of the race, but the Spaniard was able to re-pass on lap seven.
Sergey Afanasyev equalled his best result of the season in fourth, being one of the few drivers not to get embroiled in any door banging during the race.
Further back, B3 Racing’s Mat’o Homola finished in fifth, ahead of the second Leopard Racing Volkswagen of Jean-Karl Vernay in sixth.
Vernay was involved in numerous door-rubbing incidents during the race, the most notable of which came on lap 12 when he made contact with B3 Racing’s Dušan Borković heading into the Rivazza bend at Turn 14. Contact between the pair saw Borković’s SEAT spin out across the inside of the corner, across the track and into the gravel on the outside and out of the race.
Vernay was able to continue, albeit missing his front bumper, and he later dropped down to sixth after struggling late in the race for front grip.
Liqui Moly Team Engstler’s Jordi Gené was seventh, having lost fourth place on the penultimate lap.
B3 Racing’s Attila Tassi was eighth, despite suffering a poor start early in the race which effectively dropped him to the back of the field.
Completing the top ten were WestCoast Racing’s Mikhail Grachev, who had been running as high as fourth, and B.D. Racing’s Carlotta Fedeli, who benefitted from the chaos ahead to take a points finish in her first TCR race.
James Nash was a key retirement from the race, with the Craft-Bamboo Racing driver retiring to the pits after six laps with an apparent engine management issue. Jordi Oriola also retired his Target Competition Honda after seven laps, pulling off the circuit, having earlier had a few wild rides through the gravel as he battled for seventh.
The race result moves Comini into second overall in the drivers’ championship on 86 points, whilst leader Pepe Oriola has extended his advantage to 20 points.
Race two takes place at 15:30 CEST (14:30 BST).
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 1 | Stefano COMINI |  |
Leopard Racing | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 14 | 14 LAPS | 1:54.655 | 4 |
| 2 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León TCR | 14 | 2.235 | 1:54.575 | 2 |
| 3 | 7 | Davit KAJAIA |  |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 14 | 3.328 | 1:54.761 | 3 |
| 4 | 77 | Sergey AFANASYEV |  |
Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León TCR | 14 | 10.57 | 1:55.430 | 8 |
| 5 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
B3 Racing Team Hungary | SEAT León TCR | 14 | 15.423 | 1:55.329 | 6 |
| 6 | 2 | Jean-Karl VERNAY |  |
Leopard Racing | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 14 | 17.133 | 1:54.916 | 14 |
| 7 | 52 | Jordi GENÉ | |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 14 | 17.268 | 1:55.217 | 9 |
| 8 | 9 | Attila TASSI |  |
B3 Racing Team Hungary | SEAT León TCR | 14 | 18.7 | 1:55.525 | 10 |
| 9 | 8 | Mikhail GRACHEV | |
West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | 14 | 21.347 | 1:55.142 | 5 |
| 10 | 41 | Carlotta FEDELI |  |
B.D. Racing Motorsport | SEAT León TCR | 14 | 29.519 | 1:56.931 | 15 |
| 11 | 42 | Alessandra NERI | |
B.D. Racing Motorsport | SEAT León Cup Racer | 14 | 48.726 | 1:59.848 | 16 |
| R | 62 | Dušan BORKOVIĆ |  |
B3 Racing Team Hungary | SEAT León TCR | 11 | 2 LAPS | 1:55.115 | 12 |
| R | 33 | Jordi ORIOLA | |
Target Competition | Honda Civic TCR | 7 | 6 LAPS | 1:54.769 | 13 |
| R | 54 | James NASH |  |
Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León TCR | 6 | 7 LAPS | 1:57.532 | 11 |
| R | 10 | Gianni MORBIDELLI | |
West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | 4 | 9 LAPS | 1:54.755 | 1 |
| R | 40 | Alain MENU | |
West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | 4 | 9 LAPS | 1:54.960 | 7 |