Robert Colciago wins as Stefano Comini establishes narrow championship lead

Roberto Colciago defied maximum success ballast to claim his third victory of the season in the second TCR International Series race at Salzburgring.

A non-start for Jean-Karl Vernay after damage in race one, coupled with Stefano Comini’s third-place finish behind the impressive Attila Tassi ensures Comini will take a three-point championship lead to the Hungaroring.

Thomas Jager completed a stirring drive to claim fourth, with front-row start Gianni Morbidelli demoted to fifth.

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The Craft-Bamboo pairing of James Nash and rookie Daniel Lloyd came next in sixth and seventh, though Lloyd remains under investigation by officials for potentially overtaking under yellow flag conditions.

Giacomo Altoe, Jens Reno Moller and Race 1 pole-sitter Mat’o Homola completed the top ten.

Colciago, as expected, made a blistering get-away, leaving Morbidelli to dispute second with Nash’s SEAT into the chicane at Turn 1.

The Brit lost out in the scrap, releasing Tassi to claim second at the long sweeping right-hander of Turn 9 a lap later.

The Italian veteran would force the matter with a boisterous move back to the inside of Tassi, but was ultimately forced to settle for third at that stage.

The net result of those squabbles was a 2.5 second lead for Colciago at the front, with Comini able to close on the leading three amid the dicing.

Comini was next to relegate Morbidelli, with Pepe Oriola opportunistically seizing on the manouevre to slide up the inside into fourth.

Disaster struck Race 1 winner Dusan Borkovic as he spun into the gravel at half-distance.

A puncture for Oriola heading through the fast right-hander at Turn 9 would then similarly pitch him around into the gravel, forcing the safety car back out on circuit.

Colciago made a clean restart following the stoppage and from there extended his advantage to 1.2 seconds at the chequered flag.

The series heads next to the Hungaroring on 1-2 July.

Race result

POS	NO	DRIVER	NAT	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	BEST	GD
1	5	Roberto COLCIAGO		M1RA	Honda Civic Type-R TCR	17	27:50.474	1:27.084	1
2	9	Attila TASSI		M1RA	Honda Civic Type-R TCR	17	1.267	1:27.160	6
3	1	Stefano COMINI		Comtoyou Racing	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	17	1.503	1:27.142	3
4	35	Thomas JÄGER		Team Kissling Motorsport	Opel Astra TCR	17	1.945	1:26.583	5
5	10	Gianni MORBIDELLI		West Coast Racing	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	17	2.453	1:26.882	2
6	54	James NASH		Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing	SEAT León TCR	17	2.815	1:26.999	4
7	17	Daniel LLOYD		Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing	SEAT León TCR	17	6.777	1:27.561	10
8	21	Giacomo ALTOÈ		West Coast Racing	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	17	7.436	1:27.698	16
9	11	Jens Reno MØLLER		Reno Racing	Honda Civic Type-R TCR	17	8.337	1:27.886	13
10	70	Mat’o HOMOLA		DG Sport Compétition	Opel Astra TCR	17	9.431	1:27.674	9
11	16	Davit KAJAIA		GE-Force	Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	16	1 Lap	1:27.107	12
12	36	Enrico BETTERA		Pit Lane Competizioni	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	16	1 Lap	1:27.925	18
R	6	Frédéric VERVISCH		Comtoyou Racing	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	12	DNF	1:27.546	11
R	66	Grégoire DEMOUSTIER		DG Sport Compétition	Opel Astra TCR	11	DNF	1:27.496	15
R	74	Pepe ORIOLA		Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing	SEAT León TCR	10	DNF	1:26.692	7
R	18	Duncan ENDE		Icarus Motorsports	SEAT León TCR	9	DNF	1:27.818	17
R	62	Dušan BORKOVIĆ		GE-Force	Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	5	DNF	1:27.843	8
R	34	Stian PAULSEN		Stian Paulsen Racing	SEAT León TCR	4	DNF	1:41.648	14
NS	31	Milovan VESNIĆ		ASK Vesnić	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	–	DNS	N/A	–
NS	3	Rob HUFF		Leopard Racing Team WRT	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	–	DNS	N/A	–
NS	2	Jean-Karl VERNAY		Leopard Racing Team WRT	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	–	DNS	N/A	–
NS	32	Luigi FERRARA		Top Run Motorsport	Subaru WRX STi TCR	–	DNS	N/A	–