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TCR 2018
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DRIVERS TEAM
The WTCR’s double-header in China had
two faces that made the fight for the
Drivers’ title even closer, when two events
have left, at Suzuka and Macau.
At Ningbo, the Hyundai cars of MRacing-
YMR made a clean sweep: Thed Björk set
pole positions for races 1 and 3 that he
won, while Yvan Muller was victorious in
Race 2.
One week later the event at Wuhan’s
street circuit was dominated by the Audi
cars. Leopard Lukoil teammates Jean-Karl
Vernay and Gordon Shedden shared pole
positions and victories in Race 1 and Race
3 respectively, with Frédéric Vervisch and
Denis Dupont completing an all-Audi
podium in the third race. Only Mehdi
Bennani and his Sébastien Loeb Racing
Volkswagen Golf GTI were able to disrupt
Audi’s supremacy, with victory in Race 2.
The three-race format of the WTCR events
and the large amount of points awarded
at each of them means that 174 points
are still at stake, which leaves a
mathematical chance of becoming
champion to 15 drivers. Though – just to
make an example – is highly unlikely
th0at the 15th-placed Dupont will be able
to recover his 172-point gap.
Looking at the standings, only the top-
eight have reasonable chances to stay in
contention. Gabriele Tarquini has kept the
leadership with 241 points despite he
remained scoreless in Wuhan, but his
margin has been reduced to seven points
over the pair of his Hyundai colleagues
Björk and Muller. Pepe Oriola, Vernay,
Esteban Guerrieri and Vervisch had closed
their gaps from the leader to 34, 36, 42
and 49 points respectively, while Norbert
Michelisz has dropped from fourth to
seventh, 46 points behind his own
teammate.
Yann Ehrlacher and Rob Huff, who were
among the most credible contenders
before the trip to China, have dropped to
ninth and tenth, their chances nearly
faded.
Björk made good use of his pole to lead
Race 1 at Ningbo, while Guerrieri muscled
his way past Vervisch who also lost third
to Michelisz before the latter retired with
a technical problem.
Bennani overtook Huff for fifth and tried
NINGBO - ROUND 19, SATURDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2018
DRIVER CAR TEAM
DRIVER CAR TEAM
NINGBO - ROUND 20, SUNDAY 30 SEPTEMBER 2018
1 YvanMuller Hyundai i30NTCR MRacingYMR 13 laps in 24:32.355
2 Mehdi Bennani VolkswagenGolf GTITCR Sébastien Loeb Racing 2.620
3 EstebanGuerrieri Honda Civic FK7TCR All-inkl.comMünnichMotorsport 8.569
4 Denis Dupont Audi RS3 LMS Comtoyou Racing 9.965
5 RobHuff VolkswagenGolf GTITCR Sébastien Loeb Racing 12.526
6 FrédéricVervisch Audi RS3 LMS Comtoyou Racing 12.629
7 Thed Björk Hyundai i30NTCR MRacingYMR 12.796
8 Nathanaël Berthon Audi RS3 LMS Comtoyou Racing 12.961
9 Pepe Oriola CupraTCR Campos Racing 15.337
10 Aurélien Panis Audi RS3 LMS Comtoyou Racing 18.019
Fastest lap: YvanMuller,1:52.356,average 128.40 kph,lap 3
DRIVER CAR TEAM
NINGBO - ROUND 21, SUNDAY 30 SEPTEMBER 2018
1 Thed Björk Hyundai i30NTCR MRacingYMR 18 laps in 54:20.993
2 GabrieleTarquini Hyundai i30NTCR BRC RacingTeam 1.928
3 Denis Dupont Audi RS3 LMS Comtoyou Racing 4.020
4 FrédéricVervisch Audi RS3 LMS Comtoyou Racing 7.235
5 Norbert Michelisz Hyundai i30NTCR BRC RacingTeam 8.855
6 RobHuff VolkswagenGolf GTITCR Sébastien Loeb Racing 10.572
7 Pepe Oriola CupraTCR Campos Racing 11.061
8 Nathanaël Berthon Audi RS3 LMS Comtoyou Racing 12.118
9 Aurélien Panis Audi RS3 LMS Comtoyou Racing 12.871
10 Mehdi Bennani VolkswagenGolf GTITCR Sébastien Loeb Racing 13.737
Fastest lap: Thed Björk,1:51.640,average 129.30 kph,lap 12
1 Thed Björk Hyundai i30NTCR MRacingYMR 13 laps in 24:27.793
2 EstebanGuerrieri Honda Civic FK7TCR All-inkl.comMünnichMotorsport 4.098
3 FrédéricVervisch Audi RS3 LMS Comtoyou Racing 6.509
4 GabrieleTarquini Hyundai i30NTCR BRC RacingTeam 7.459
5 Mehdi Bennani VolkswagenGolf GTITCR Sébastien Loeb Racing 12.512
6 RobHuff VolkswagenGolf GTITCR Sébastien Loeb Racing 12.920
7 YvanMuller Hyundai i30NTCR MRacingYMR 15.681
8 Yann Ehrlacher Honda Civic FK7TCR All-inkl.comMünnichMotorsport 18.262
9 Denis Dupont Audi RS3 LMS Comtoyou Racing 21.330
10 Aurélien Panis Audi RS3 LMS Comtoyou Racing 22.571
Fastest lap: Thed Björk,1:52.317,average 128.50 kph,lap 4