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WORLD AND LIFE
TCR 2017
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DRIVERS TEA
Plenty of emotion
at Zandvoort
The four Sprint Races at Zandvoort
provided plenty of emotion with
three different winners and a number
of incidents. 2016 champion
Stéphane Lémeret again savoured the
sweet taste of victory in Race 1 at
the wheel of his Boutsen Ginion
Racing Honda Civic. Italian teenager
Giacomo Altoè provided a surprise in
Race 2, driving his Delahaye Racing
Volkswagen Golf to an authoritative
win. Races 3 and 4 went to a local
hero, Jaap van Lagen, in an Audi RS3
LMS run by Certainty Racing. But the
Dutchman had to fight to overcome
the resistance of Aurélien Comte’s
Peugeot 308.
After two events, Guillaume Mondron
leads the standings with 159 points,
47 more than his new teammate
Altoè; together they won the
Qualifying Race on Saturday.
Benjamin Lessennes (Boutsen Ginion
Racing) is third, a further two points
adrift.
Race 1 – Altoé was fastest away
from the grid, but Lémeret overtook
him after Turn 1 and took the lead.
After a Safety Car intervention
following an incident, Lémeret
successfully defended his lead from
Altoè’s attempts that culminated in a
contact on the last lap.
Lessenes and Detry finished third
and fourth after passing Abbring’s
Peugeot.
Race 2 – Pole sitter Lémeret stalled
his engine and Altoè sprinted into
the lead, chased by Lessennes and
Detry. The young Italian was able to
create a gap and from mid-race
onwards the first four cars were
running in a stretched line on their
way to finish in that order. On lap 6
Lémeret, who was lying seventh,
slowed after contact with another car
and retired, while the Audi cars of
Meijer and Reicher collided as they
were fighting for seventh position.
Race 3 – Van Lagen sprinted from the
pole and rejected an attempt from
Comte who dropped to fourth behind
Coronel and Mondron. The leader
built a comfortable gap; behind him
Comte was able to overtake Mondron
for third and during the final laps
even tried to steal second place from
Coronel.
Results
Zandvoort, Round 5, Sunday 21 May
1. Stéphane Lémeret (Honda Civic); 2.
Giacomo Altoè (Volkswagen Golf); 3.
Benjamin Lessennes (Honda Civic)
Zandvoort, Round 6, Sunday 21 May
1. Giacomo Altoè (Volkswagen Golf); 2
Benjamin Lessennes (Honda Civic); 3.
Mathieu Detry (Volkswagen Golf)
Zandvoort, Round 7, Sunday 21 May
1. Jaap van Lagen (Audi RS3 LMS); 2.
Tom Coronel (Honda Civic); 3.
Aurélien Comte (Peugeot 308)
Zandvoort, Round 8, Sunday 21 May
1. Jaap van Lagen (Audi RS3 LMS); 2.
Aurélien Comte (Peugeot 308); 3.
Mika Morien (Audi RS3 LMS)
Race 4 – This time Comte managed to
take the lead ahead of van Lagen;
the latter attempted an overtaking
manoeuvre at the Tarzan on lap 2,
and then successfully completed it
on lap 3. Comte stuck to the Audi’s
tail, while Coronel defended second
place from Morien. On lap 8 Coronel’s
car had a puncture and crashed at
the final bend; Potty (who was sixth)
also crashed while taking avoiding
action. The race finished behind the
Safety Car, with van Lagen first,
ahead of Comte and Morien.
Next event: Rounds 9 to 12, Zolder,
3/4 June.