Jean-Karl Vernay has been crowned the 2017 TCR International Series champion by virtue of his third place finish in the opening contest at the Dubai Autodrome.
The race was won by Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Pepe Oriola after the Spaniard made a blistering getaway and relieved Gordon Shedden of the race lead into the first corner.
The pair played out a race-long stalemate as the action unfolded behind them – a fast-starting Attila Tassi (M1RA) took the fight to his main championship rival Vernay, but was unable to find a route past the Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR despite numerous attempts.
Though the Hungarian will start on pole position for the reverse grid encounter later today, Vernay now holds an insurmountable 27 point advantage in the standings. The battle for the Teams’ Championship will continue to the final round.
Gabriele Tarquini – who elected to start from the rear of the field after having an engine changed overnight – slowed in the closing laps with a front-left puncture having working his way up the final podium spot.
The race, in truth, was made more dramatic for Vernay than perhaps it needed to be.
He made the poorer start of the two VW machines at the front and slipped back into third behind Shedden, who equally had been forced to give way to an exceptional start from Oriola behind.
James Nash showcased the exceptional starting prowess of the SEAT by moving up seven positions in the first sector to assume fourth, whilst Tassi surged through to sixth.
Nash then dispatched Vernay on the second tour of the circuit, leaving him in the clutches of Tassi, now fifth.
A disastrous start for Daniel Lloyd in the third Craft-Bamboo car was then compounded further as contact with Roberto Colciago’s Honda sent him into the wall, heavily damaging the front of the car whilst the latter limped back to the pits with a front-left puncture.
That brought out the safety car and, crucially, brought Tassi right back up to the rear of Vernay’s Golf GTi.
Meanwhile, Tarquini had worked his way up into seventh after a meteoric start and began to pass the key players one at a time.
Though Josh Files attempted to protect M1RA team-mate Tassi for as long as possible, eventually he was forced to give way to the i30, who duly continued to rise as high as third.
His progress was halted, however, as a combination of fast right-handers and a high quota of success ballast caused a puncture to the front-left and ruled him out of contention for the race win.
Nash started to struggle in the closing stages and dropped back into Vernay’s clutches, and as a consequence Tassi was able to zone in on the Frenchman.
Vernay made a bold move to the inside of Turn 7 after Nash made a mistake, however, and seized third and his maiden TCR title.
Oriola and Shedden continued their virtual dead heat at the front and crossed the line in tandem, the Spaniard taking his first victory since the season opener in Georgia.
The second and final race from Dubai Autodrome is scheduled to get underway at 15:35.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 19 | 31:46.068 | 1:28.733 | 4 |
| 2 | 73 | Gordon SHEDDEN |  |
Leopard Racing Team WRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 19 | 4.445 | 1:28.888 | 1 |
| 3 | 2 | Jean-Karl VERNAY |  |
Leopard Racing Team WRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 19 | 6.410 | 1:29.317 | 2 |
| 4 | 54 | James NASH | |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 19 | 7.451 | 1:29.188 | 11 |
| 5 | 9 | Attila TASSI |  |
M1RA | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 19 | 7.632 | 1:29.485 | 10 |
| 6 | 95 | Josh FILES | |
M1RA | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 19 | 8.024 | 1:29.582 | 14 |
| 7 | 1 | Stefano COMINI |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 19 | 11.326 | 1:29.753 | 9 |
| 8 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Opel Astra TCR | 19 | 13.319 | 1:29.568 | 16 |
| 9 | 62 | Dušan BORKOVIĆ |  |
GE-Force | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 19 | 14.194 | 1:30.007 | 15 |
| 10 | 16 | Davit KAJAIA |  |
GE-Force | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 19 | 15.287 | 1:29.578 | 19 |
| 11 | 18 | Duncan ENDE |  |
Icarus Motorsports | SEAT León TCR | 19 | 17.323 | 1:30.106 | 20 |
| 12 | 6 | Frédéric VERVISCH |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 19 | 31.859 | 1:29.936 | 12 |
| 13 | 13 | Benjamin LEUCHTER |  |
West Coast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 19 | 1:28.514 | 1:29.364 | 3 |
| 14 | 28 | Aurélien PANIS | |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 18 | 1 Lap | 1:29.873 | 18 |
| 15 | 30 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 18 | 1 Lap | 1:29.124 | 21 |
| R | 10 | Gianni MORBIDELLI | |
West Coast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 16 | DNF | 1:28.926 | 5 |
| R | 4 | Denis DUPONT | |
Comtoyou Racing | SEAT León TCR | 11 | DNF | 1:29.980 | 6 |
| R | 5 | Roberto COLCIAGO | |
M1RA | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 5 | DNF | 1:30.130 | 17 |
| R | 17 | Daniel LLOYD | |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 4 | DNF | 1:29.954 | 8 |
| R | 27 | Aurélien COMTE | |
DG Sport Compétition | Opel Astra TCR | 3 | DNF | 1:29.741 | 7 |
| R | 33 | Alain MENU | |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 2 | DNF | 1:38.050 | 13 |