Pepe Oriola says his win in the second TCR International Series race at Oschersleben will set up a ‘close fight’ for the title, as the Sapniard is now level on points at the top with team-mate James Nash.
Oriola scored his third win of the year in race two, taking the lead from the front row of the grid at the end of the opening lap.
After a double retirement in Austria, which decimated an otherwise healthy championship lead, Oriola emerges from Germany as the joint leader of the drivers’ standings, after Nash took a brace of podium finishes.
It wasn’t all plain sailing for the Craft-Bamboo Racing driver, though, as contact with fellow SEAT racer Antti Buri in the opening race pitched him off the circuit and into the tyres.
In the end he was able to return to the race and take home a consultation point for tenth in a race of high attrition.
“After a very bad weekend at the Salzburgring because of technical problems, it is nice to be spared by bad luck,” said Oriola. “Still, race one was quite eventful, as I was involved in two race incidents and even touched the barriers. Luckily, I could finish the race and damage was only cosmetic.
“In race two, I could avoid trouble at the start and passed [Davit] Kajaia after a few laps. Then everything went fine and I focused mostly on saving my tyres in the closing laps.
“It’s nice to be back in the lead of the standings, although the title race is still very long. I’m on equal points with James, he is very consistent and being both in the same team, we share all the data, so it’s going to be a close fight, and I am sure that [Gianni] Morbidelli and [Stefano] Comini will also be part of it.”