Münnich Motorsport locked out the podium in the final World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) race at the Hungaroring, with Esteban Guerrieri taking his second win of the day.
All four of the team’s cars made a strong getaway at the front of the field, but behind them Mikel Azcona struggled off the line once again, losing out to Jean-Karl Vernay for fifth.
Heading into turn one, there was friendly fire between the Honda quartet, with Néstor Girolami running into the back of Attila Tassi. This compromised the pair of them, and after a brief tussle, Vernay got ahead of Tassi at turn four.
Further back, Gabriele Tarquini was looking to make progress after a torrid day up until this point. Having dived past Nathanaël Berthon at turn one, the Italian soon had the Lynk & Co trio in his sights, with Santiago Urrutia the next driver up the road.
Meanwhile, Tassi dropped further back after his opening lap difficulties, losing out to an attack from Azcona at turn one on lap six.
A lap later, Tarquini finally managed to break past Urrutia’s defences, moving up into ninth through turn three.
There was then drama at the lead of the race when Guerrieri’s front splitter suddenly came loose. With aerodynamic damage, the Argentine was now reliant on his team-mates Girolami and Tiago Monteiro to fend off the advances of Vernay and Azcona.
Midway through lap eight, Yvan Muller had also fallen to the hard-charging Tarquini, leaving Cyan Racing’s champion elect Yann Ehrlacher as the next car vulnerable to attack.
However, instead of Ehrlacher, it was Urrutia who was the latest Lynk & Co to be involved in a battle. After a bruising defence against Norbert Michelisz, the Uruguayan eventually had to concede defeat following a right-front puncture.
With damage limitation in mind, Ehrlacher soon conceded to the feisty-looking Tarquini, while up ahead Azcona pulled off a last-ditch overtake on Vernay at turn nine for fourth position.
Having dispatched with the Alfa Romeo, Azcona had latched onto the back of the Honda train as the cars headed onto their final lap. In the end though, the Spaniard would run out of time, having to settle for fourth place.
So, Guerrieri took the chequered flag, and in doing so would practically halve the deficit to Ehrlacher in the drivers’ standings, the gap now standing at twenty-two points.
Monteiro came across the line in second place, his best result of the year, while Girolami completed Honda’s clean sweep of the podium in third.
Azcona and Vernay weren’t very far away in fourth and fifth respectively, while Tassi had to make do with sixth at his home circuit.
Seventh was as far as Tarquini could climb, being followed across the line by Ehrlacher and Muller in eighth and ninth.
Michelisz completed the top ten for Hyundai, but overall, it was a home event to forget the Hungarian hero.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 15 | 28:48.553 | 1:54.020 | 1 |
| 2 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 15 | 0.478 | 1:53.935 | 3 |
| 3 | 29 | Néstor GIROLAMI | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 15 | 0.869 | 1:54.042 | 4 |
| 4 | 96 | Mikel AZCONA |  |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición | 15 | 1.715 | 1:54.114 | 5 |
| 5 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY |  |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR | 15 | 2.055 | 1:54.072 | 6 |
| 6 | 9 | Attila TASSI |  |
ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 15 | 3.354 | 1:54.059 | 2 |
| 7 | 30 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 15 | 3.654 | 1:54.127 | 12 |
| 8 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | |
Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 15 | 5.707 | 1:54.084 | 8 |
| 9 | 100 | Yvan MULLER | |
Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 15 | 9.262 | 1:54.189 | 9 |
| 10 | 1 | Norbert MICHELISZ | |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 15 | 9.476 | 1:54.289 | 14 |
| 11 | 17 | Nathanaël BERTHON | |
Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 15 | 10.169 | 1:54.399 | 7 |
| 12 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
Cyan Performance | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 15 | 10.906 | 1:54.376 | 13 |
| 13 | 31 | Tom CORONEL |  |
Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 15 | 13.159 | 1:54.162 | 16 |
| 14 | 16 | Gilles MAGNUS |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 15 | 13.508 | 1:54.190 | 20 |
| 15 | 25 | Luca FILIPPI | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR | 15 | 15.060 | 1:54.405 | 15 |
| 16 | 8 | Luca ENGSTLER |  |
Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 15 | 15.273 | 1:54.777 | 22 |
| 17 | 55 | Bence BOLDIZS | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición | 15 | 15.861 | 1:54.131 | 10 |
| 18 | 28 | José Manuel SAPAG | |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 15 | 21.683 | 1:54.804 | 17 |
| 19 | 34 | Aurélien COMTE | |
Vuković Motorsport | Renault Mégane RS TCR | 15 | 22.170 | 1:54.715 | 21 |
| 20 | 97 | Nicolas GRUBER |  |
Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 15 | 22.749 | 1:55.031 | 18 |
| 21 | 99 | Gábor KISMARTY-LECHNER | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición | 15 | 1:08.111 | 1:57.694 | 19 |
| R | 12 | Santiago URRUTIA |  |
Cyan Performance | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 11 | DNF | 1:54.337 | 11 |
