Pepe Oriola was relieved to end his bad luck in the 2020 TCR Europe series, with the Brutal Fish Racing driver claiming a close victory in race two at Monza on Sunday.
Oriola mastered his start to jump from sixth on the grid to third by the second chicane, which became second when John Filippi made a mistake at Turn 8.
The Spaniard then seized the lead at the Parabolica with a daring move around the outside of leader Mike Halder.
Four laps into the race Oriola found himself with the charging Julien Briché in his mirrors, by which stage he had a 1.5 second advantage.
Although Briché slashed the gap in a matter of laps, the Frenchman was unable to find a way past Oriola, who was delighted to claim his first win of the year.
“I’m really happy because it was a really solid start,” said Oriola to TouringCars.Net. “The move on Halder at the Parabolica was crazy, it was really risky, but then I was P1 by the end of the first lap.
“The other drivers were fair. Then I just tried to push really hard. The Audi was following me, and on the straight he was crazy coming back to me, but then I managed to pull a bit away.
“I had a comfortable lead over Briché, but within three to four laps he was all over my back.
“The problem is that with the Honda, if we are in the tow we can manage to stay in the tow, [but] we have crazy problems with our top speed.
“When we were alone on the track, Briché was coming really fast on the straights.”
Although team-mate Dan Lloyd picked up a puncture and retired from the race, Oriola said he was not concerned about easing off, as Lloyd’s puncture was caused by contact rather than car settings.
“I wanted the win. The team on the radio told me to think about the points but I said ‘what points, I’m 13th in the championship’.
“I knew that he [Briché] also needs the points because he is pretty close in the standings with me. So, I knew he was not going to take a crazy risk.
“He knows me, I know him since a long time ago, and it was a really fair battle. He was waiting for my mistake, but it didn’t come, so he didn’t have the chance.
“But really fair play; he didn’t push me, he didn’t touch me and the races should be like this all of the season.”