Gilles Magnus led home an Audi 1-2 in the second FIA World Touring Car Cup race at Vallelunga, with the Comtoyou Racing driver securing a lights-to-flag win.
Magnus effectively started the partially-reversed grid race from pole position, after the five Cyan Racing cars once again pitted at the end of the formation lap.
The Lynk & Co team’s concerns about tyre safety had not been quelled during race day, and so front row men Yann Ehracher and Santiago Urrutia were unable to take up their positions.
At the front, Magnus held off Mehdi Bennani when the lights went out, even though the Moroccan sought to go around the outside of his team-mate thorough the fast first few corners, the result being Bennani skirted wide over the dirt and dropped to fourth.
Bennani’s moment allowed Team Engstler’s Attila Tassi through into second, but the young Hungarian gradually slipped back from Magnus, being over a second adrift by lap eight.
The Honda driver then slowed with a front-left puncture on lap nine, forcing him to pit for replacement rubber, promoting Nathanaël Berthon into second.
Berthon would then hold that place until the end of the race, whilst Hyundai’s Mikel Azcona completed the podium.
Azcona and BRC Racing team-mate Norbert Michelisz had swapped positions on the second lap to boost the Spaniard’s title chances, with the place later becoming third for Azcona after Tassi’s puncture and a similar fate befalling Bennani.
Michelisz took the chequered flag in fourth, ahead of the leading Honda of race one winner Néstor Girolami in fifth.
Earlier in the race, Girolami had ceded position to Münnich Motorsport team-mate Esteban Guerrieri, but after his compatriot was unable to gain further ground, after nine laps of trying, the team ordered Guerrieri to drop back behind Girolami.
The switch had to be carefully managed though, for at the time Girolami had Zengő Motorsport’s Rob Huff just half a second behind.
In the end, Huff would claim sixth, benefitting when Guerrieri picked up a puncture himself on the penultimate lap, seemingly the penalty for him pushing his tyres hard earlier in the race.
Comtoyou Racing’s Tom Coronel was seventh, ahead of Tassi, the first of those who pitted, in eighth.
The top ten was completed by Bennani and Guerrieri. Tiago Monteiro also had to pit for a replacement tyre on lap 14, dropping the Portuguese from eighth to 11th and last.
The results, including the self-sacrifice of Cyan Racing, means Azcona has bult a bigger championship lead, the Hyundai driver now having 200 points, ahead of Girolami (164), Huff (148), Magnus (142) and Urrutia (137).
The next round takes place at Anneau du Rhin in north-eastern France on 6 – 7 August.
Race two result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 16 |  |
Gilles MAGNUS | Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 21 | 27:10.386 | 1:16.464 | 3 | |
| 2 | 17 |  |
Nathanaël BERTHON | Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 21 | 1.409 | 1:16.820 | 6 | |
| 3 | 96 |  |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 21 | 1.783 | 1:16.851 | 8 | |
| 4 | 5 |  |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 21 | 11.857 | 1:16.725 | 7 | |
| 5 | 29 |  |
Néstor GIROLAMI | ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 21 | 12.768 | 1:17.160 | 9 | |
| 6 | 79 |  |
Rob HUFF | Zengő Motorsport Services Kft | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 21 | 13.366 | 1:17.224 | 13 | |
| 7 | 33 |  |
Tom CORONEL | Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 21 | 20.291 | 1:17.476 | 11 | |
| 8 | 9 | |
Attila TASSI | Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 21 | 55.093 | 1:16.598 | 5 | |
| 9 | 25 |  |
Mehdi BENNANI | Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 21 | 1:04.012 | 1:16.806 | 4 | |
| 10 | 86 | |
Esteban GUERRIERI | ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 21 | 1:12.993 | 1:16.853 | 16 | |
| 11 | 18 |  |
Tiago MONTEIRO | Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 20 | + 1 LAP | 1:16.962 | 14 | |
| R | 68 | |
Yann EHRLACHER | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 1 | |
| R | 12 |  |
Santiago URRUTIA | Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 2 | |
| R | 55 |  |
MA Qing Hua | Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 10 | |
| R | 100 | |
Yvan MULLER | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 12 | |
| R | 11 |  |
Thed BJÖRK | Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 15 |