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Vila Real WTCC: Coronel takes lights-to-flag win in Race 1

Tom Coronel won the opening race at the Vila Real street circuit, leading all the way from pole position in his ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet.

Race winner Tom Coronel, Roal Motorsport, Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1

Race winner Tom Coronel, Roal Motorsport, Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1

FIA WTCC

Tiago Monteiro, Honda Racing Team JAS, Honda Civic WTCC
Yvan Muller, Citroën World Touring Car Team, Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
Tiago Monteiro, Honda Racing Team JAS, Honda Civic WTCC
John Filippi, Campos Racing, Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
Thed Björk, Polestar Cyan Racing, Volvo S60 Polestar TC1
Nicky Catsburg, LADA Sport Rosneft, Lada Vesta
Robert Dahlgren, Polestar Cyan Racing, Volvo S60 Polestar TC1
Yvan Muller, Citroën World Touring Car Team, Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
Mehdi Bennani, Sébastien Loeb Racing, Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
Tom Coronel, Roal Motorsport, Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1

Coronel finished ahead of his former teammate Tom Chilton’s Citroen, moving into the top 10 in the championship.

The Dutchman led a largely processional race, which saw the majority of movement take place at the start.

Citroen’s Jose Maria Lopez got the jump from sixth to fifth ahead of the Volvo of Thed Bjork, and Chilton was able to get ahead of Nicky Catsburg’s Lada through the first sequence of corners.

Coronel then had to defend against Chilton throughout the duration of the race, but there were no opportunities for the Briton to pass the Chevrolet around the tight street circuit, allowing Coronel to take his second win of the year, again on a street circuit after his first win came at the opening race at Marrakech.

Chilton went on to finish second with Catsburg completing the podium. “Of course I felt the pressure, he’s been one of my best teammates,” said Coronel on his battle with Chilton.

“I know his thinking and his mind, I know he’s strong in the braking points, but I knew I was strong in the straights and could get a bit of a gap before the braking zones.”

The race saw very few incidents or manoeuvres after the start. Hugo Valente retired on lap eight from 12th position, while Gabriele Tarquini worked his way past Robert Dahlgren’s Volvo a lap later.

The Italian making the most of a good start after lining up 17th on the grid, but would still finish outside of the points.

Rob Huff pressured Bjork’s Volvo throughout the race for sixth position, and the Briton made his move at Turn 26 on the penultimate lap, with Bjork leaving the Honda driver racing room, allowing Huff to move one place up the order.

Catsburg’s third place now elevates him to a clear second place in the drivers’ standings, 101 points behind Lopez, but the Lada driver will start the next race from ninth position, with Lopez fifth on the grid, and local driver Tiago Monteiro starting from pole.

Opening race result:

PosDriverCarLapsGap
1 Tom Coronel Chevrolet 13  
2 Tom Chilton Citroën 13 0.597
3 Nicky Catsburg LADA 13 2.626
4 Mehdi Bennani Citroën 13 3.145
5 Jose Maria Lopez Citroën 13 3.626
6 Rob Huff Honda 13 4.332
7 Thed Björk Volvo 13 5.155
8 Norbert Michelisz Honda 13 5.452
9 Yvan Muller Citroën 13 7.411
10 Tiago Monteiro Honda 13 8.054
11 James Thompson Chevrolet 13 9.711
12 Gabriele Tarquini LADA 13 15.602
13 Robert Dahlgren Volvo 13 20.282
14 Ferenc Ficza Honda 13 30.555
15 John Filippi Chevrolet 13 32.774
16 Grégoire Demoustier Citroën 13 33.218
17 Daniel Nagy Honda 13 1'07.844
R Hugo Valente LADA 8  

Neil Hudson / TouringCarTimes

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