Motorsport: Hot phase for Stefano
Stefano Comini is working up a good sweat in the fall. With a second-place finish in the Singapore heat, the man from Ticino briefly took over the top spot in the TCR International Series standings. The decision will be made at four more hot races in Malaysia and Macau. TCR stands for Touring Car Racing, a category newly launched in 2015, which features front-wheel-drive, four-door touring cars [...]
TCR stands for Touring Car Racing, a category newly launched in 2015 and reserved for front-wheel-drive, four-door touring cars with two-liter turbo engines. The first title winner of the international series, a kind of world championship, was Stefano Comini. After the two races in the run-up to Formula 1 in Singapore, the chances are not bad that the jovial man from Ticino will be able to successfully defend his title. In the first race before Formula 1 qualifying at Singapore's Marina Bay Circuit, Jean-Karl Vernay (F) and Stefano Comini drove their VW Golf TCRs to a double victory for Leopard Racing. "Although I would have liked to, it was wiser not to attack my teammate," Stefano Comini was satisfied with second place. "Because that way I safely took the lead in the standings."
Decision to be made in Macau in November
Due to the reversed starting order, the VW duo was initially slightly behind in the second race. The Briton James Nash took advantage of his better starting position, drove to third place in the Seat Leon TCR and thus pushed Stefano Comini, who had come in in a good fourth place, back up to second place in the standings by two points. Had the race not ended prematurely behind the safety car, another podium finish would have been possible for Stefano Comini. The Spaniard Pepe Oriola (Seat), who had been third the day before, dropped out of the points after a pit-stop penalty and is now third in the championship ahead of Jean-Karl Vernay.
On the first weekend in October, the TCR will once again start as part of Formula 1 in Malaysia. With a total of 120 points available, nine drivers are still theoretically in contention for the title. However, the decision will almost certainly be made on the spectacular street circuit of Macau on November 19 and 20 between James Nash, Stefano Comini, Pepe Oriola and Jean-Karl Vernay. With a triumph there a year ago, the driver from southern Switzerland crowned himself the first international TCR champion with the car supported by Seat Switzerland.
www.tcr-series.com
Photos: TCR
