Frédéric Vervisch was delighted to score a maiden victory in the second FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) race in Macau, which was also the first for Comtoyou Racing in the series.
Vervisch jumped into second at the start, passing the Alfa Romeo of Kevin Ceccon, but had to wait until the third lap to make a pass on early race leader Timo Scheider, using the straight-line speed advantage of his Audi RS3 LMS to overtake the Honda driver in the fast first sector.
The victory was Vervisch’s first since joining WTCR, and the win moved him up to ninth overall in the drivers’ championship standings, having taken seven podiums during the course of the season.
“We had a strong car on the straight,” said Vervisch. “Our start was quite OK, I managed to overtake Ceccon and then I was behind Timo, but on the first lap he was pulling away so I thought it would be difficult.
“But on the second lap his pace dropped a bit and I thought it was a possibility to overtake. It’s not easy, but I could just overtake before Mandarin.
“I said it was now or never, thanks to my great car, and then I think it was just about controlling the race and not making any mistakes because they were fighting.
“I am very happy and it’s great to be in front of these two legends. I am very happy for the team as well, for our first victory.”
Vervisch’s victory means that 15 different drivers scored race wins in the 2018 WTCR season, out of 30 races in total.