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WORLD AND LIFE
TCR 2017
NEWS
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DRIVERS TEAM
Following the two events in Georgia
and Bahrain, the TCR International
Series began its European leg with
two back-to-back race weekends at
Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and
Monza in Italy. The two legendary
circuits witnessed four thrilling races
that provided close racing and
incidents aplenty, but the two
meetings didn’t pass without
controversy.
The 7km track at Spa-Francorchamps
saw a total of 24 cars entered, with
the series’ regulars joined by a
number of local drivers, two entrants
looking to qualify for the TCR Trophy
Europe and a pair of Touring Car star
names – Dutch legend Tom Coronel
and 2012 World Champion Rob Huff.
It was also where the Audi RS3 LMS
was predicted to finally get a chance
to shine, which is precisely what
happened.
Over the first two race weekends,
Stefano Comini had struggled to get
his 2017 season underway, but the
Belgian event saw a dramatic upturn
in his fortunes. After qualifying on
pole for Race 1, the reigning TCR
champion was beaten to the first
corner by Attila Tassi’s M1RA Racing
Honda Civic, but retook the lead on
lap 2 and then never looked back. The
17-year old Belgian driver Benjamin
Lessennes took a brilliant second
place, with Tassi claiming the last of
the podium places. Series leader Jean-
Karl Vernay was fourth, ahead of
Comini’s Comtoyou Racing teammate
Frédéric Vervisch.