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WORLD AND LIFE
TCR 2017
NEWS
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DRIVERS TEAM
Following the eight-week summer
break, the TCR International Series
resumed in Buriram, Thailand – the
third time the series had raced at the
Chang International Circuit. Arriving
in Thailand, the battle for the
Drivers’ title was still wide open,
with a possible 165 points still on
offer from the remaining three race
weekends. The Teams’ championship,
on the other hand, looked like being
a straight fight between M1RA
Racing and Lukoil Craft-Bamboo, but
events over the weekend would
suggest neither winner will be easy
to predict….
Qualifying and the two races
witnessed drama after drama. Had
Dušan Borkovi
ć
not clipped a tyre
stack in Q1, the Serbian driver would
surely have taken a commanding
victory in the first race, while his
teammate Davit Kajaia suffered an
under-bonnet fire in Q2 and so was
also denied the chance of adding to
the win he scored in the series’
opening round in Georgia.
It seemed Mat’o Homola was on
course to finally give the Opel Astra
its first International Series victory
in Race 1, but his eagerness to pull
away from the chasing pack resulted
in a blown front tyre in the race’s
closing stages and he ended the race
in the pit lane. There was
disappointment too for Pepe Oriola,
who badly needed a win in Buriram,
but left Thailand empty-handed after
gearbox failure frustrated a potential
podium finish in Race 1 and the
team were then unable to change the
gearbox in the available time before
Race 2.
With Roberto Colciago forced
to miss the two Buriram races
because of the lasting effects of the
three broken ribs he suffered in
Oschersleben, he was replaced by his
team boss Norbert Michelisz. The
Hungarian Touring Car ace took his
first win in the TCR International
Series in Race 1, with his young
countryman Attila Tassi finishing
third behind Borkovi
ć
and so netting
a useful haul of points for both
himself and his team.