Münnich Motorsport’s Néstor Girolami took his second win of the weekend in the FIA World Touring Car Cup at the Hungaroring, in an eventful race which took place on a damp circuit.
At the start of the race reverse-grid pole-sitter Jean-Karl Vernay’s Audi was out-dragged by the CUPRA of Daniel Haglöf and the Lynk & Co of Thed Björk heading into the first corner.
But the Argentine kept his cool further around an eventful opening lap, passing Haglöf for the lead at Turn 11 as the rest of the pack behind him bumped into each other on a slippery circuit.
PWR Racing’s Haglöf ended the opening lap in second, but Leopard Racing’s Vernay got through on the next lap and the top three was decided at that stage, as the rest of the field fought for position.
Mikel Azcona followed his team-mate home to take fourth, although the Spaniard was involved in contact several times on the opening lap, as he got involved three-wide with Björk and Vernay, resulting in damage to Björk’s car that saw the Swede retire from the race.
The second Münnich Honda of Esteban Guerrieri was fifth, with the result meaning that the two Argentine team-mates are now tied at the top of the drivers’ standings with 90 points each.
Yvan Muller was the best of the Cyan Racing drivers in sixth, having started from 15th on the grid, the Frenchman being involved in tight battles with Augusto Farfus and Guerrieri late in the race.
SLR’s Rob Huff was sixth in the leading Volkswagen, having driven a feisty race that saw him in wheel-banging contact with KCMG’s Attila Tassi, who finished in seventh.
BRC Racing’s Farfus, fifth with just four laps to go, slipped back to ninth, whilst team-mate Nicky Catsburg completed the top ten.
Team Mulsanne’s Ma Qing Hua was the best Alfa Romeo driver in 11th, despite late-race contact with Leopard Racing’s Gordon Shedden.
Shedden had been forced wide at Turn 1 after an attack from fellow Audi driver Niels Langeveld on lap 11, and as the Scot rejoined the circuit he made contact with Ma, who was three-wide with Aurélien Panis.
Shedden was pitched off the circuit towards the barrier but was able to rejoin, whilst Langeveld retired with broken front-left suspension.
SLR’s Benjamin Leuchter brought his Volkswagen home in a season-best 12th, ahead of Comtoyou Racing CUPRA duo Panis and Tom Coronel.
Comtoyou Racing Audi driver Frédéric Vervisch completed the points positions in 15th, despite picking up a drive-through penalty for a false start.
Reigning champion Gabriele Tarquini was running in seventh until a front-left puncture eliminated the Italian from the race, whilst his BRC Hyundai team-mate Norbert Michelisz retired after mid-pack contact.
Honda’s Tiago Monteiro and SLR duo Johan Kristoffersson and Mehdi Bennani also retired from the race after effectively one lap of racing, with Bennani suffering broken right-rear suspension and going slow in the middle of the pack on the first lap.
That caused Monteiro to be contacted whilst avoiding Bennani, pitching the KCMG driver out of the race. Kristoffersson picked up a puncture in the ensuing melee.
The final race of the weekend gets underway at 17:00 CEST (16:00 BST).
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 29 | Néstor GIROLAMI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 12 | 23:46.542 | 1:56.362 | 6 |
| 2 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY |  |
Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 12 | 2.529 | 1:56.210 | 1 |
| 3 | 37 | Daniel HAGLÖF |  |
PWR Racing | CUPRA TCR | 12 | 3.507 | 1:56.089 | 2 |
| 4 | 96 | Mikel AZCONA |  |
PWR Racing | CUPRA TCR | 12 | 5.260 | 1:56.130 | 5 |
| 5 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 12 | 12.822 | 1:56.389 | 9 |
| 6 | 100 | Yvan MULLER | |
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 12 | 14.721 | 1:56.663 | 15 |
| 7 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
SLR VW Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 12 | 15.245 | 1:56.215 | 11 |
| 8 | 9 | Attila TASSI |  |
KCMG | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 12 | 15.766 | 1:55.933 | 17 |
| 9 | 8 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 12 | 18.979 | 1:57.470 | 3 |
| 10 | 88 | Nicky CATSBURG |  |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 12 | 19.522 | 1:57.525 | 13 |
| 11 | 55 | Ma QING HUA |  |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 12 | 19.751 | 1:56.421 | 26 |
| 12 | 33 | Benjamin LEUCHTER |  |
SLR Volkswagen | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 12 | 20.676 | 1:56.789 | 20 |
| 13 | 21 | Aurélien PANIS | |
Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing | CUPRA TCR | 12 | 21.739 | 1:56.307 | 14 |
| 14 | 50 | Tom CORONEL | |
Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing | CUPRA TCR | 12 | 24.699 | 1:57.372 | 16 |
| 15 | 22 | Frédéric VERVISCH |  |
Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 12 | 25.086 | 1:56.487 | 19 |
| 16 | 31 | Kevin CECCON |  |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 12 | 36.000 | 1:58.822 | 24 |
| 17 | 1 | Gabriele TARQUINI | |
BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | + 1 LAP | 1:57.736 | 7 |
| 18 | 23 | Támas TENKE | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 9 | + 2 LAPS | 1:57.576 | 27 |
| R | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 11 | DNF | 1:57.461 | 25 |
| R | 10 | Niels LANGEVELD | |
Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 11 | DNF | 1:57.426 | 23 |
| R | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ | |
BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 10 | DNF | 1:57.634 | 10 |
| R | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | |
Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 8 | DNF | 1:57.867 | 8 |
| R | 111 | Andy PRIAULX | |
Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 5 | DNF | 1:59.273 | 12 |
| R | 11 | Thed BJÖRK | |
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 4 | DNF | N/A | 4 |
| R | 25 | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
SLR VW Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 3 | DNF | N/A | 18 |
| R | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
KCMG | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 3 | DNF | N/A | 21 |
| R | 14 | Johan KRISTOFFERSSON | |
SLR Volkswagen | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 2 | DNF | N/A | 22 |