Ley's qualifying session ended as soon as it started when the 21-year-old British driver lost control of his BRC Racing Team-run Elantra at the fast Raidillon corner, spearing off and around to the right-hand side barriers and sustaining significant damage to the left-side of his car. The car was deemed not to be repairable trackside, and so was sadly withdrawn from the event.
In the final qualifying order, Fernández put together an incredible lap to deprive Honda rival Mike Halder of pole, and in doing so secured his third consecutive pole position at the track, on which he said "there’s something special between this circuit and myself."
In the race, Fernández led the way into Turn 1 and controlled the race throughout, holding a small margin over the chasing pack behind him. The pursuing pack was led by Viktor Andersson, after the Swedish driver had made a strong start from third on the grid in his Monlau Motorsport CUPRA to pass ALM Motorsport’s Halder.
An even stronger (and perhaps more questionable) start was made by Ruben Volt, who bolted from eighth on the grid and was up to fourth by the first corner. Volt was eventually deemed to have jumped the start and handed a 15-second penalty post-race, dropping him down to 12th.
Andersson was fighting to keep Halder at bay throughout the race, with the German driver applying pressure and getting the nose of his Honda ahead on multiple occasions, but Andersson was able to reclaim the position each time.
On lap five, Gabriele Covini’s Hyundai began leaking oil and he pulled into the pits to retire, marking a second disaster for the BRC Racing Team. Oil from Covini’s car, combined with light rain, then caused hazardous conditions at Eau Rouge, with Volt running wide on the sixth lap and falling behind the CUPRA of Marco Butti.
Making the most of the wet conditions, Butti closed up on the battling pair of Andersson and Halder, while Volt struggled with his set-up and found himself passed by both Nicolas Taylor’s Audi and Adam Shepherd’s CUPRA before the end of the race, prior to the application of his penalty.
On the final lap, Butti charged past Halder for third around the outside at Les Combes, ensuring two of Monlau’s CUPRAs finished on the podium. Halder was forced to settle for fourth, but the points he scored ensured he took the lead of the standings from the absent Ley by seven points.
Up front, there was no stopping Fernández, who went on to take a long-overdue first victory in the series, just under a second clear of Andersson.
The second race is due to get underway at 10:35 CEST tomorrow morning, with Covini due to start from pole position.
QUOTES
Felipe Fernández
RC2 Racing Team
First place
This is probably the right place for my first win, as this circuit is one of the best for me, I love it and I have so much confidence here. I’ve never finished the race in P1, so I’m super-happy, this is my first victory in TCR Europe and there’s no place better to do it than here in Spa.
Viktor Andersson
Monlau Motorsport
Second place
We had a great start and moved up to second, but it was not a calm race. I had Mike in my mirrors the whole race, we had great fights and I’m happy to come out on top. I’m super-happy to finish in P2, and to have Marco P3 and to have a double Monlau podium is really great for the team.
Marco Butti
Monlau Motorsport
Third place
I had a really bad start, but after the rain came that helped me to join the top three. It was a bit disappointing if I’d only be P4, but I had really great pace through Eau Rouge, and so I had to try something a bit crazy on the last lap of the race to be on the podium, and I think we achieved a really great move on Mike Halder.
Spa-Francorchamps Race 1 result
1 - Felipe Fernández - RC2 Racing Team - Honda Civic Type R FL5 - 11 laps
2 - Viktor Andersson - Monlau Motorsport - CUPRA Leon VZ TCR - +0.930
3 - Marco Butti - Monlau Motorsport - CUPRA Leon VZ TCR - +1.842
4 - Mike Halder - ALM Motorsport - Honda Civic Type R FL5 - +2.090
5 - Nicolas Taylor - PMA Motorsport - Audi RS 3 LMS - +7.996
6 - Adam Shepherd - Monlau Motorsport - CUPRA Leon VZ TCR - +9.253
7 - Junesung Park - Solite Indigo Racing - Hyundai Elantra N TCR - +17.120
8 - Nicola Baldan - PMA Motorsport - Audi RS 3 LMS - +21.407
9 - Max Hart - ALM Motorsport - Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR - +23.660
10 - Michael Markussen - RC2 Racing Team - Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR - +24.131 ...
