Leopard Lukoil’s Jean-Karl Vernay made it two wins out of two in a perfect weekend for the Audi driver in the TCR Europe series at Monza, in an eventful race that saw championship challenger Dušan Borković fail to finish.
The reverse-grid race saw Sports & You’s Francisco Mora start from pole position, with the Peugeot driver initially leading into the first corner.
Vernay, meanwhile, got up to fifth by the end of the opening lap, to sit just behind the Honda of Josh Files going onto the second lap.
The Frenchman was then gifted three positions at the first chicane on lap two, when the Autodis Racing by THX Honda of Benjamin Lessennes pushed Borković deep into the chicane, resulting in the Serbian cutting the turn and bouncing over the kerbs.
As Borković rejoined, his car tumbling over the kerbs, he pushed Lessennes wide, opening the door for Vernay to sail into second.
Vernay then easily passed Abreu for the lead at the start of the third lap, using his straight-line speed advantage to complete the pass before the first turn.
The first of two safety car periods was then required to rescue the Honda of Jens Reno Møller, who had gone off at the exit of the first corner following contact from Danny Kroes’ CUPRA.
Borković, meanwhile, was forced to limp back to the pits with a puncture picked up as a result of his kerb strike earlier in the second lap.
The race resumed on lap six with Vernay leading from Abreu and Potty. The duo went into the first chicane fighting for second, and Potty was tapped by his Portuguese rival, cutting the corner in the process and demoting Abreu to third.
Sensing a chance to pass, Files then took third at the first Lesmo corner, with fourth-placed Abreu then contacted by championship leader Mikel Azcona just moments later, demoting the Peugeot to fifth.
Abreu continued to have to defend heavily, and just two corners later at Variante Ascari there was contact as he tried to hold position from Lessennes, spearing the latter heavily into the barriers and out of the race, also prompting a second two-lap safety car period. Lessennes was taken to hospital as a precaution following the crash.
Although Abreu was able to continue he was judged to be at fault and hit with a post-race 40-second penalty, in lieu of a 10-second stop-and-go penalty, after the race.
Vernay went on to win the race and take a maximum 55-point score ahead of Files, who secured second on the penultimate lap, with team-mate Attila Tassi completing the podium after also following past Potty at the second Lesmo corner.
Potty took the chequered flag in fourth, ahead of Azcona in fifth. The latter now holds a 19-point lead in the series ahead of Vernay.
Autodis Racing by Piro Sports’ Peter Terting was the leading Hyundai driver in sixth, ahead of Target Competition’s Kris Richard in seventh.
For the second race in a row Team Mulsanne’s Fabrizio Giovanardi brought his Alfa Romeo home in eighth, having started in 21st.
Target Competition’s Reece Barr took ninth, whilst Pyro Motorsport’s Ollie Taylor completed the top ten, scoring a point in his début weekend in the European series.
Having been running in the top ten at one stage, PCR Sport’s Kroes was later given a drive-through penalty for the contact with Møller and he finished down in 20th as a result.
Autodis Racing by THX’s Stefano Comini started the race in fourth, despite some dramas with his car on the grid, but the Swiss racer quickly succumbed to the technical problem and slowed on the opening lap.
Neither of the Subarus of Cosimo Barberini or Roberto Russo took the start of the race, whilst Stian Paulsen also retired to the pits after one lap with issues on the left-rear suspension on his CUPRA.
TCR Europe concludes in Barcelona on the 19-21 October.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY |  |
Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 11 | 25:19.170 | 1:59.331 | 10 |
| 2 | 99 | Josh FILES |  |
Hell Energy Racing with KCMG | Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCR | 11 | 0.480 | 1:59.555 | 7 |
| 3 | 9 | Attila TASSI |  |
Hell Energy Racing with KCMG | Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCR | 11 | 1.654 | 2:00.125 | 8 |
| 4 | 88 | Maxime POTTY |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 2.263 | 2:00.069 | 6 |
| 5 | 25 | Mikel AZCONA |  |
PCR Sport | CUPRA TCR | 11 | 3.333 | 1:59.900 | 9 |
| 6 | 15 | Peter TERTING |  |
Autodis Racing by Piro Sports | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 4.001 | 2:00.050 | 12 |
| 7 | 94 | Kris RICHARD |  |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 4.213 | 2:00.190 | 19 |
| 8 | 18 | Fabrizio GIOVANARDI |  |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 11 | 4.793 | 2:00.360 | 21 |
| 9 | 8 | Reece BARR |  |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 5.285 | 2:00.573 | 18 |
| 10 | 32 | Ollie TAYLOR | |
Pyro Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCR | 11 | 5.466 | 2:00.650 | 20 |
| 11 | 79 | José Manuel SAPAG |  |
Baporo Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 11 | 7.455 | 2:00.745 | 13 |
| 12 | 999 | Dániel NAGY | |
M1RA | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 7.622 | 2:01.052 | 16 |
| 13 | 44 | Salvatore TAVANO | |
Scuderia Girasole | CUPRA TCR | 11 | 7.648 | 2:00.987 | 11 |
| 14 | 17 | Martin RYBA |  |
Brutal Fish Racing Team | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 8.038 | 2:00.661 | 25 |
| 15 | 7 | Igor STEFANOVSKI |  |
Stefanovski Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 8.526 | 2:01.297 | 24 |
| 16 | 10 | Viktor DAVIDOVSKY | |
PSS Racing Team | Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCR | 11 | 9.171 | 2:01.443 | 23 |
| 17 | 16 | Nicola BALDAN | |
M1RA | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 9.433 | 2:00.965 | 14 |
| 18 | 63 | Giovanni ALTOÈ | |
Pit Lane Competizioni | Audi RS3 LMS TCR DSG | 11 | 9.639 | 2:01.256 | 27 |
| 19 | 76 | Daniele CAPPELLARI | |
CRC – Cappellari Reparto Corse | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 11.711 | 2:01.678 | 26 |
| 20 | 38 | Danny KROES |  |
PCR Sport | CUPRA TCR | 11 | 30.294 | 2:00.711 | 15 |
| 21 | 23 | Francisco ABREU |  |
Sports & You | Peugeot 308 TCR | 11 | 43.065 | 2:00.150 | 1 |
| R | 630 | Benjamin LESSENNES | |
Autodis Racing by THX | Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCR | 6 | DNF | 2:00.355 | 2 |
| R | 11 | Jens Reno MØLLER |  |
Reno Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCR | 2 | DNF | 2:01.602 | 3 |
| R | 62 | Dušan BORKOVIĆ |  |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 2 | DNF | 2:03.847 | 5 |
| R | 42 | Stefano COMINI | |
Autodis Racing by THX | Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCR | 1 | DNF | 2:59.544 | 4 |
| R | 34 | Stian PAULSEN |  |
Stian Paulsen Racing | CUPRA TCR | 1 | DNF | 3:03.466 | 17 |
| R | 3 | Cosimo BARBERINI | |
Race Republic | Subaru WRX STi TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 22 |
| R | 77 | Roberto RUSSO | |
Race Republic – Top Run Motorsport | Subaru WRX STi TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 28 |
