Esteban Guerrieri put on a masterclass display en route to victory in the first World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) race of the weekend, flying the flag for Münnich Motorsport at their home race event.
The Argentine started the race from second place behind reversed-grid pole-sitter Yvan Muller. As soon as proceedings got underway, Guerrieri’s Honda looked far more poised on the slippery Nürburgring surface than the Lynk & Co in front, so from the offset it always looked like a matter of time until he would take the lead of the race.
Spectators wouldn’t have to wait for long to see how he would go about it either.
With Aremberg bend approaching early on during the first lap, last season’s championship runner-up took to the outside line as Muller went defensive.
On the outside, Guerrieri found more surface grip, but by positioning his car where he did, he left himself at the mercy of his fellow competitor.
Thankfully, Muller chose to race respectfully and refrained from forcing him out wide onto the gravel. As the track then began to curve back in Guerrieri’s favour, he held his nerve and successfully completed the pass.
“The move was a risky one,” Guerrieri explained. “But with an experienced driver like Yvan, we could make a very nice move.
“He broke early and I knew there was more grip around the outside so I just tried and it went well. After that I wanted to make a gap because the Lynk & Cos looked to be a bit quicker on the straights, so that first lap I lost it two times actually.
“I went off into the grass completely once, and also went over the curbs so I was really trying to find the grip. I was trying to remember from last year in wet qualifying, but we have different tyres this year.
“So in the end when I pulled out a gap I knew what grip was around, so little by little I could increase that gap on the second lap.
“In the third lap I just saved the tyres because there was a big vibration, so I just cruised around and brought the Honda Civic back to P1.
“I’m very happy to be here in the paddock and I’m very happy with this car and with the hard work from the team.”
The win is his first of the 2020 season, and with it comes a large haul of much-needed championship points following a disappointing opening round at Zolder.
Guerrieri now finds himself in eighth place in the championship standings, heading into race two tomorrow which gets underway at 09:00 BST (10:00 CEST).