Nicky Catsburg won race three of this weekend’s World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) event at the Slovakiaring, ending a nine-year wait for Engstler Motorsport to return to the top step of the podium.
Just as in race one, Nathanaël Berthon bogged down from pole position, allowing the Hyundai duo of Catsburg and Norbert Michelisz to scythe past into the race lead on the inside line through turn one.
The third Hyundai of Gabriele Tarquini didn’t have quite as much luck though, with contact in the midfield causing him to spur off into the turn one gravel trap.
It could have been two Hyundai casualties within the space of two corners, as Jean-Karl Vernay made contact with the rear of Michelisz at turn two. The Hungarian was pitched into a major slide but somehow managed to keep his car out of the barriers.
Compromised for pace, the recovering Michelisz was swarmed upon by the charging pack leaving just Catsburg at the front to fly the flag for the South Korean marque.
A little further back meanwhile, Mikel Azcona was storming up the order. With just three laps gone, the CUPRA driver had made his way up from seventeenth on the grid to sixth place, having pulled off a tidy overtake on Santiago Urrutia as the cars headed onto lap four.
Following his massive crash in the prior race, Néstor Girolami was unable to start race three. Esteban Guerrieri had therefore become Honda’s best bet for a good result, and arguably, to challenge Yann Ehrlacher for the drivers’ title too.
However, Guerrieri could do little to hold back the onrushing Spaniard, with Azcona swiftly moving up into fifth.
At the tail-end of the points-paying positions, a tussle was breaking out between championship leader Ehrlacher and the Renault of Aurélien Comte.
With things looking as though they were about to heat up, Yvan Muller played the team game for Cyan Racing. Along the straight before turn three, the veteran driver pulled over to allow his nephew through into the top ten, acting as a rear defence from Comte, Michelisz and Petr Fulín behind.
In the lead of the race however, Catsburg was largely unbothered by Vernay as he went on to take his first career victory in the World Touring Car Cup (WTCR), repeating the feat that Berthon had achieved in race one.
Vernay followed Catsburg home in second place ahead of Berthon in the final podium position. Gilles Magnus was the top rookie driver once again, coming home in fourth position for the Comtoyou Racing squad.
Azcona’s supreme drive up the order was rewarded with a finish in the top five, while Tom Coronel got the better of Guerrieri for sixth.
Urrutia was once again the best performing Lynk & Co driver, crossing the line in eighth place, while the top ten was rounded out by Hyundai stablemates Luca Engstler and Michelisz.
Despite Muller’s best attempts, the veteran couldn’t keep Comte’s Renault at bay for twelfth place, however he successfully held off his compatriot for long enough to ensure that Ehrlacher went on to pick up five championship points in eleventh.
At the end of the day’s racing, Ehrlacher’s lead in the drivers standings has been reduced to twenty points, with Coronel now his nearest challenger in second place on the leaderboard.
Vernay, Magnus and Guerrieri complete the top five in the championship, while a double non-score for Girolami sees him drop from second to eighth overall.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 88 | Nicky CATSBURG |  |
Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 24:20.767 | 2:11.451 | 3 |
| 2 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY |  |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR | 11 | 2.315 | 2:11.686 | 7 |
| 3 | 17 | Nathanaël BERTHON | |
Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 11 | 4.614 | 2:11.867 | 1 |
| 4 | 16 | Gilles MAGNUS |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 11 | 7.039 | 2:11.911 | 5 |
| 5 | 96 | Mikel AZCONA |  |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición | 11 | 7.968 | 2:12.226 | 15 |
| 6 | 31 | Tom CORONEL | |
Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 11 | 15.579 | 2:12.510 | 4 |
| 7 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 11 | 17.752 | 2:12.472 | 6 |
| 8 | 12 | Santiago URRUTIA |  |
Cyan Performance | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 11 | 18.508 | 2:12.619 | 8 |
| 9 | 8 | Luca ENGSTLER |  |
Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 19.609 | 2:13.199 | 17 |
| 10 | 1 | Norbert MICHELISZ |  |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 20.503 | 2:12.528 | 2 |
| 11 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | |
Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 11 | 21.676 | 2:13.441 | 13 |
| 12 | 34 | Aurélien COMTE | |
Vuković Motorsport | Renault Mégane RS TCR | 11 | 29.498 | 2:12.770 | 18 |
| 13 | 100 | Yvan MULLER | |
Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 11 | 29.662 | 2:13.359 | 12 |
| 14 | 22 | Petr FULÍN |  |
VEXTA DOMY | CUPRA Leon Competición | 11 | 29.737 | 2:13.513 | 16 |
| 15 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
Cyan Performance | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 11 | 30.719 | 2:13.431 | 19 |
| 16 | 99 | Gábor KISMARTY-LECHNER | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición | 11 | 44.402 | 2:15.282 | 20 |
| R | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 9 | DNF | 2:13.322 | 11 |
| R | 55 | Bence BOLDIZS | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición | 8 | DNF | 2:12.584 | 14 |
| R | 25 | Luca FILIPPI |  |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 9 |
| R | 30 | Gabriele TARQUINI | |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 10 |
| NS | 29 | Néstor GIROLAMI | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | – | DNS | N/A | 21 |
| NS | 9 | Attila TASSI | |
ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | – | DNS | N/A | 22 |
