Kris Richard moved joint top of the FIA European Touring Car Cup standings with his fourth victory of 2016 on Vila Real’s taxing street track.
But it was local driver Manuel Fernandes who thrilled the Portuguese fans with a dramatic home win in Race 1 when a puncture sent fellow SEAT driver Norbert Nagy wide and out of the lead.
Nagy hit back with third in the reverse-grid Race 2 behind Fernandes as Richard charged through from fourth in his TCN2-specification Honda Civic to win. Petr Fulín was second in Race 1 ahead of Peter Rikli. But contact between the pair in Race 2 dropped Rikli out of contention and handed Fulín a drive-through penalty, plus the loss of his title advantage. Niklas Mackshin was a double winner in the Super 1600 Cup, while Kevin Hilgenhövel, Tomáš Korený and Andreas Rinke took category podiums.
RACE 1 REPORT: FERNANDES SCORES HOME VICTORY
Local driver Manuel Fernandes won the first FIA ETCC Race of Vila Real after passing Norbert Nagy at the end of the penultimate lap following a fraught battle. Nagy had led from pole position but he was under pressure from ETCC debutant Fernandes from the start, the the Vila Real residnet racer going straight on at the tight chicane on the second racing lap in his pursuit of the Hungarian. Two laps later, Fernandes got a run on Nagy and went side-by-side with his fellow SEAT driver, a move that also allowed Petr Fulín and Fábio Mota to catch up to make it a four-way fight. However, Mota’s race would end soon afterwards when he lunged down the inside of points leader Fulín and hit the barriers, stopping on track and triggering a safety car. After the restart, Nagy was once again under attack from Fernandes and the latter was able to make his move with just over a lap remaining. On the brink of a maiden ETCC win, Nagy ran wide with a front-left puncture and was forced to pit. Fulín took second for Křenek Motorsport with Peter Rikli completing the podium in his Rikli Motorsport Honda Civic. His team-mate Kris Richard was given a drive-through penalty for reversing in the pit-lane before the race but was able to finish fifth on the tail of Mladen Lalušić. Niklas Mackschin led Super 1600 for the duration to score his fifth win of the year but there was lots of action behind involving Tomáš Korený and the two Peugeot drivers, with the Czech teenager overtaking Andreas Rinke and finishing right behind Kevin Hilgenhövel
RACE 2 REPORT: RICHARD HOLDS OFF FERNANDES FOR A BIG ETCC WIN
Kris Richard held a charging Manuel Fernandes at bay to win a dramatic second FIA European Touring Car Cup race in Vila Real and tie with Petr Fulín for the points lead. From fourth on the reverse grid, Richard was able to move into the lead through the opening corners past the Super 1600 runners that headed the starting order. He could then pull away from the rest of the field as his team-mate and team boss Peter Rikli looked to keep Fulín at bay. On lap five Fulín tagged Rikli into a spin under braking, allowing Race 1 winner Manuel Fernandes to move up into second. The local driver set about closing the considerable gap to Richard and was able to catch the young Swiss driver on the final lap, but Richard defended well to win by three tenths of a second as a gear shift issue took hold.
Fulín was handed a drive-through penalty for the contact with Rikli, relegating him to sixth place and allowing Richard to tie with him for the championship lead on 72 points. Rikli was forced to retire, as was Christjohannes Schreiber, who parked his SEAT in the same position at the side of the track as he did when he retired in Race 1. After the disappointment of Race 1, Norbert Nagy surged from P11 on the grid and onto the podium in third, keeping home driver Fábio Mota at bay. Mladen Lalušić took fifth ahead of Fulín. It was also a dramatic race in Super 1600. Tomáš Korený led from the outright reverse-grid pole ahead of Kevin Hilgenhövel and Niklas Mackschin, but on lap three Hilgenhövel locked up and tagged Korený into a spin. That handed Mackschin a second victory of the day and his sixth of the season to extend his points total. With Hilgenhövel serving a drive-through penalty for the contact that ended Korený’s race, his fellow ETH Tuning Peugeot 207 driver Andreas Rinke was able to finish second.
RACE WINNER QUOTES
Manuel Fernandes (Super 2000 Cup winner, Race 1): “I didn’t get a very good start, I was expecting to go to first place immediately but of course it’s not easy and Nagy I think has been a little bit slower than me but I was trying to make pressure, pressure, pressure all the time. I had one or two possibilities that I could overtake him but I know he will be angry as he had car damage so I didn’t try, I didn’t go for it but I was expecting some error and the error happened. I took opportunity and I got to first place so basically it was my race.”
Kris Richard (Super 2000 Cup winner, Race 2): “Considering you look at the oil leak suffering that I have yesterday, yes it’s really great to win the second race. In the first race, I had a drive-through because I was rolling two metres at the pre-start down the box. If you told me that yesterday I could be on this place that I am right now in the second race I would not believe you. I see I had a very good start and make some gap between me and second and in the last two, three laps I feel the car and the brakes not good and in the second last lap sometimes I can’t downshift, so one more lap I don’t think that I bring back home the car because it was very difficult the last lap, and then this guy [Fernandes] come like, I look in the mirror and see no one else and I think okay, okay, I bring it home, bring it home and then oh no. So for me I’m very very happy with it and I’m thankful to the team they take out the gearbox two times this weekend so they do also a great job. I’m very happy that the car is in one piece and I’m looking forward to Magny-Cours.”
Niklas Mackschin (Super 1600 Cup winner, Race 1 and 2): “Both race was really good for me, the first race was really cool but the second race from start on the reverse grid and the cars left, right I don’t know where it goes (laughs). I’m on the line and so yes and it’s looking good for the championship.”
