Klim Gavrilov admitted that he lacked the outright pace to be able to pass winner Viktor Davidovski in the second TCR Europe race at Circuit Paul Ricard, with the Volcano Motorsport driver having to settle for second.
Gavrilov started the reverse-grid race from third on the grid, and at the start he got by Pepe Oriola for second, although he had to give the place back.
By the end of the lap the Russian had re-claimed second and set about chasing down Comtoyou Racing’s Davidovski, who had opened up a one-second lead by the end of lap three.
Whilst Gavrilov closed in on the leader towards the end of the race, he lacked the pace to put up a fight for the win and quickly settled for second.
The result is Gavrilov’s first podium of the season, and only the second of his career in TCR Europe, since joining the series full-time at the start of 2021.
“The race was really good,” said Gavrilov. “I had a good start but then I had a little accident in the first corner and I had nowhere to go except straight on so I had to give back the position.
“After that, I was trying to chase Davidovski – I think I had a little advantage over him on each lap, but it wasn’t enough for me to overtake him.
“I knew I couldn’t quite pass him, so I would close the gap to him and then open out again a little not to confuse him.
“I knew I had Pepe and Tom [Coronel] behind me and I knew that if I fought with Davidovski I could lose a couple of places in a single corner.”
Gavrilov has moved up to third overall in the drivers’ standings, 24 points behind leader Franco Girolami.