Esteban Guerrieri was left frustrated with his Sunday in the FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) in Portugal, after contact from Comtoyou Racing’s Frédéric Vervisch put the Münnich Motorsport driver out of race two.
Vervisch made contact with Guerrieri after skipping the chicane on the opening lap, as several drivers got embroiled in the aftermath of contact between Benjamin Lessennes and Nathanaël Berthon.
That saw Vervisch’s Audi knock into Guerrieri, in turn knocking his Honda into the wall heavily and out of the race.
Vervisch was handed a drive-through penalty for the incident, but an unimpressed Guerrieri had to retire, also leaving him to start race three from the back, from where he could only manage 13th place.
“Yesterday we had a great result with a podium, but today didn’t go so well,” said the Argentine. “A couple of little mechanical issues in qualifying left me 19th and put me in fightback mode for the Races.
“Unfortunately, in race two, Frédéric Vervisch made a completely amateur move and simply drove me into the wall. The car had too much damage to fix without breaking Parc Fermé.
“That meant I started last in race three. From there, it’s impossible to recover.”
As a result of the incidents, Guerrieri, who finished second in Saturday’s restarted opening race in a repaired car, has slipped to eighth in the drivers’ championship standings, 33 points from the series lead.