Franco Girolami extended his advantage at the top of the TCR Europe drivers’ standings with victory ahead of main rival Aurélien Comte in a quiet opening race at Brno.
The two rivals had gone into the event tied on points at the top, but Monlau Motorsport’s Girolami eked out a three-point lead prior to the race by taking pole position on Friday ahead of Comte.
At the start of the race, the Argentine held station ahead of fellow CUPRA racer Comte, and easily had the legs over the SP Compétition driver, who ultimately had to settle for second as he fell to 2.6 seconds adrift by the chequered flag.
The podium was completed by Janík Motorsport’s Mat’o Homola, who had got the jump on MA:GP’s Viktor Andersson at the start and then held third for the duration of the race. Homola thus claimed the win in the TCR Eastern Europe category for the fifth time this season to maintain his 100% record in race one of the weekend.
For Homola, the class victory means he moves even closer to claiming the Eastern European title, as his main rival Attila Bucsi is not competing in Czechia this weekend.
Andersson fell back from Homola over the race and finished fourth, which was third in the TCR Europe class.
The Swede was only two tenths of a second ahead of Martin Kadlečík, however, who brought his Audi home in fifth, second in TCR Eastern Europe. Kadlečík made his biggest move on the third lap, when he passed both Bartosz Groszek and Ignacio Montenegro on the same lap.
Wildcard entry Groszek was sixth, ahead of Homola’s team-mate Adam Kout in seventh.
Montenegro was eighth, the Honda driver having seemingly struggled for pace and dropped back to eighth, despite having gained two places up to fifth at the start.
The top ten was completed by the sole GOAT Racing Honda of Felipe Fernández and SP Compétition’s Giovanni Scamardi. Fernández had gained two places when Scamardi tapped Viktor Davidovski into a spin, the latter dropping to the back of the field.
MM Motorsport’s Giacomo Ghermandi was the sole retirement in the field, bringing his Honda into the pits after two laps.
Race two is scheduled to get underway at 10:35 CEST (09:35 BST) on Sunday.
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 72 | EU |  |
Franco GIROLAMI | Monlau Motorsport | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 11 | 24:55.484 | 2:13.515 | 1 |
| 2 | 7 | EU |  |
Aurélien COMTE | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 11 | 2.616 | 2:13.715 | 2 |
| 3 | 70 | EE |  |
Mat’o HOMOLA | Hyundai / Janík Motorsport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 11 | 9.090 | 2:14.142 | 4 |
| 4 | 10 | EU |  |
Viktor ANDERSSON | MA:GP | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 11 | 12.637 | 2:14.568 | 3 |
| 5 | 301 | EE |  |
Martin KADLEČÍK | Aditis Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 11 | 12.870 | 2:15.072 | 5 |
| 6 | 97 | EE |  |
Bartosz GROSZEK | Aditis Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 11 | 17.743 | 2:15.081 | 9 |
| 7 | 68 | EE | |
Adam KOUT | Hyundai / Janík Motorsport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 11 | 23.283 | 2:15.272 | 6 |
| 8 | 23 | EU | |
Ignacio MONTENEGRO | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 11 | 24.912 | 2:15.384 | 7 |
| 9 | 19 | EU |  |
Felipe FERNÁNDEZ Gil | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 11 | 25.659 | 2:16.161 | 12 |
| 10 | 34 | EU |  |
Giovanni SCAMARDI | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 11 | 27.502 | 2:15.250 | 8 |
| 11 | 9 | EE |  |
Davit KAJAIA | Mertel Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 11 | 29.243 | 2:16.538 | 11 |
| 12 | 11 | EE | |
Jiří ZBOŽÍNEK | Hyundai / Janík Motorsport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 11 | 32.180 | 2:16.453 | 15 |
| 13 | 74 | EE |  |
Žarko KNEGO | Auto Klub Dubrovnik | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 11 | 38.890 | 2:17.061 | 16 |
| 14 | 64 | EU |  |
Levente LOSONCZY | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 11 | 39.666 | 2:16.510 | 10 |
| 15 | 14 | EE | |
Petr ČÍŽEK | Expres Auto Racing | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 11 | 42.716 | 2:17.228 | 19 |
| 16 | 8 | EE |  |
René KIRCHER | Mertel Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 11 | 46.512 | 2:17.599 | 13 |
| 17 | 121 | EE |  |
Ivars VALLERS | LV Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 11 | 47.316 | 2:17.649 | 17 |
| 18 | 48 | EE |  |
Fraňo DUBRETA | Auto Klub Dubrovnik | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 11 | 51.417 | 2:17.038 | 20 |
| 19 | 82 | EE | |
Vít SMEJKAL | Expres Auto Racing | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 11 | 57.565 | 2:18.074 | 22 |
| 20 | 20 | EE |  |
Jorden DOLISCHKA | Mertel Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 11 | 59.497 | 2:18.806 | 21 |
| 21 | 110 | EU |  |
Viktor DAVIDOVSKI | Monlau Motorsport | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 11 | 1:06.748 | 2:15.288 | 14 |
| R | 3 | EE |  |
Giacomo GHERMANDI | MM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 2 | DNF | 2:19.920 | 18 |