Pepe Oriola leads Craft-Bamboo 1-2 in race two

Pepe Oriola led a Craft-Bamboo Racing 1-2 in the second TCR International Series race in Georgia, with Hugo Valente finishing in second, although both drivers remain under investigation for possibly passing under yellow flags.

The duo moved past the reversed-grid pole sitter Giacomo Altoè half-way around the opening lap. The incident remains under investigation as the yellow flags and safety car subsequently came out around the same time after the DG Sport Compétition Opel of Mat’o Homola was knocked into the Turn 1 gravel on the opening lap by circuit owner Shota Abkhazava.

When the race resumed, Oriola proceeded to open up a comfortable advantage over team-mate Valente, which stood at just over four seconds in the closing laps of the race.

Valente had no challenge to his more experienced team-mate and settled for his first TCR podium in second, whilst M1RA’s Attila Tassi took his second podium in TCR with third, having also got past fellow countryman Altoè on the opening lap.

Leopard Racing’s Jean-Karl Vernay finished in fourth, following up his earlier sixth in race one to ensure that consistency means he is just 12 points off the championship lead.

After missing out on points in race one, GE-Force’s Dušan Borković finished in fifth, although the Serbian driver had his work cut out in the closing laps to keep a train of cars behind him.

The second M1RA Honda of Roberto Colciago took sixth, although the veteran Italian enjoyed a hard late-race battle with the third Craft-Bamboo Racing car of James Nash, who took seventh. Both drivers had earlier been battling with Zele Racing’s Ferenc Ficza, but the Hungarian made contact with Colciago in the process and retired from the race on the exit of Turn 1 after 14 laps.

That left Georgian hero Davit Kajaia to claim eighth, and as a result the Alfa Romeo driver leaves his home race as the leader of the drivers’ championship standings, with a three-point advantage over Oriola.

West Coast Racing’s Gianni Morbidelli took the chequered flag in ninth, having seemingly let Colciago through at the half-way stage, before settling for points finishes. Pierre-Yves Corthals took his and Opel’s first points of the season with tenth.

Following his controversial clash with Vernay after race one, Comini’s Comtoyou team faced a race against time to repair his car ahead of race two. Whilst that was achieved, and the Swiss started from the pitlane, he retired from the race with further issues on his Audi after six laps whilst running in 11^th.

Race result

POS	NO	DRIVER	NAT	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	BEST	GD
1	74	Pepe ORIOLA		Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing	SEAT León TCR	17	29:40.114	42.657	2
2	7	Hugo VALENTE		Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing	SEAT León TCR	17	4.056	43.134	3
3	9	Attila TASSI		M1RA	Honda Civic Type-R TCR	17	4.823	42.926	9
4	2	Jean-Karl VERNAY		Leopard Racing Team WRT	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	17	5.466	42.798	7
5	62	Dušan BORKOVIĆ		GE-Force	Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	17	16.878	43.731	13
6	5	Roberto COLCIAGO		M1RA	Honda Civic Type-R TCR	17	18.258	43.042	6
7	54	James NASH		Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing	SEAT León TCR	17	19.012	43.445	11
8	16	Davit KAJAIA		GE-Force	Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	17	19.835	43.568	10
9	10	Gianni MORBIDELLI		West Coast Racing	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	17	20.271	43.846	4
10	23	Pierre-Yves CORTHALS		DG Sport Compétition	Opel Astra TCR	17	33.498	44.498	14
11	21	Giacomo ALTOÈ		West Coast Racing	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	17	34.127	43.851	1
12	18	Duncan ENDE		Icarus Motorsports	SEAT León TCR	17	42.065	44.493	15
R	55	Ferenc FICZA		Zele Racing	SEAT León TCR	14	DNF	43.182	8
R	1	Stefano COMINI		Comtoyou Racing	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	6	DNF	45.792	5
R	15	Shota ABKHAZAVA		GE-Force	Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	1	DNF	N/A	16
R	70	Mat’o HOMOLA		DG Sport Compétition	Opel Astra TCR	0	DNF	N/A	12