Franco Girolami edged closer to a second TCR Europe title by claiming victory in the opening race in Valencia, having beaten pole-sitter Ignacio Montenegro away from the line.
At the start, the Monlau Motorsport driver got a better launch from the front row of the grid to beat Montenegro into the first corner, and the CUPRA driver didn’t look back thereafter.
That was despite a late-race safety car intervention, required when Giovanni Scamardi bizarrely pulled his CUPRA into the gravel where it got beached.
Despite being fastest in qualifying, Montenegro lacked the pace to take the fight to his Argentine compatriot at the front, the ALM Motorsport driver ultimately finishing over a second adrift of Girolami following the final two laps of post-safety car racing.
SP Compétition’s Aurélien Comte, Girolami’s title challenger, completed the podium in third, but the Frenchman lacked the pace to keep with the leading duo.
Indeed, despite the late-race safety car period, Comte came under late pressure from the GOAT Racing Honda of Santiago Concepción, with the Spaniard briefly threatening to deny Comte the final podium place.
Despite the last-lap challenge, Comte took third and kept his title chances alive, although Girolami is now 19 points ahead following his victory.
Concepción thus took fourth, ahead of Comtoyou’s Jimmy Clairet in fifth. GOAT Racing’s Felipe Fernández took sixth, but he did so following last lap dramas.
Jenson Brickley had been running in fifth, but on the last lap Ruben Volt made contact with Brickley’s CUPRA, spinning him across the gravel.
Clairet and Fernández benefitted, with Volt taking the chequered flag in seventh. His ALM team-mate Levente Losonczy was eight, with the top ten completed by Monlau motorsport’s Viktor Davidovski and GOAT Racing’s Rubén Fernández.
Viktor Andersson ran third early on before retiring to the pits with mechanical issues.
Race two is scheduled to take place at 11:55 CEST on Sunday (10:55 BST).
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 72 |  |
Franco GIROLAMI | Monlau Motorsport | CUPRA León VZ TCR | 16 | 29:18.809 | 1:41.526 | 2 | |
| 2 | 23 | |
Ignacio MONTENEGRO | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 16 | 1.026 | 1:41.580 | 1 | |
| 3 | 7 |  |
Aurélien COMTE | SP Compétition | CUPRA León VZ TCR | 16 | 4.293 | 1:42.381 | 5 | |
| 4 | 33 |  |
Santiago CONCEPCIÓN | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 16 | 4.419 | 1:42.237 | 4 | |
| 5 | 16 | |
Jimmy CLAIRET | Baldan Group by Comtoyou | CUPRA León VZ TCR | 16 | 6.919 | 1:42.374 | 9 | |
| 6 | 19 | |
Felipe FERNÁNDEZ Gil | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 16 | 7.370 | 1:42.757 | 12 | |
| 7 | 27 |  |
Ruben VOLT | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 16 | 7.376 | 1:42.160 | 6 | |
| 8 | 64 |  |
Levente LOSONCZY | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 16 | 8.660 | 1:42.583 | 11 | |
| 9 | 110 |  |
Viktor DAVIDOVSKI | Monlau Motorsport | CUPRA León VZ TCR | 16 | 9.086 | 1:42.851 | 10 | |
| 10 | 11 | |
Rubén FERNÁNDEZ Gil | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 16 | 9.719 | 1:42.666 | 13 | |
| 11 | 17 |  |
Nicolas TAYLOR | PMA Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 16 | 10.119 | 1:42.830 | 14 | |
| 12 | 246 |  |
Jenson BRICKLEY | Jenson Brickley Racing | CUPRA León VZ TCR | 16 | 13.411 | 1:42.435 | 8 | |
| 13 | 41 | |
Victor FERNÁNDEZ Gil | RC2 Junior Team | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 16 | 14.569 | 1:43.833 | 17 | |
| 14 | 59 | |
Daniel TEIXEIRA | JT59 Racing Team | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 16 | 17.015 | 1:44.196 | 18 | |
| 15 | 8 |  |
Nicola BALDAN | Baldan Group by Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 14 | + 2 LAPS | 1:42.592 | 7 | |
| R | 34 |  |
Giovanni SCAMARDI | SP Compétition | CUPRA León VZ TCR | 10 | DNF | 1:42.387 | 15 | |
| R | 10 |  |
Viktor ANDERSSON | MA:GP | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 7 | DNF | 1:42.395 | 3 | |
| R | 54 | |
Sandro PELATTI | PMA Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 4 | DNF | 1:44.003 | 16 |