After claiming the first ever victory for the Opel Astra TCR in yesterday’s Qualifying Race, DG Sport Compétition’s Pierre-Yves Corthals bagged two more wins in the Sprint Races 3 and 4 at Zolder.
TCR Benelux leader Stéphane Lémeret (Boutsen Ginion Racing Honda Civic) finished the races in fourth and second; during the weekend he scored 56 points, 74 less than the pairing of Corthals and Frédéric Caprasse who moved up to second with a gap of 54.5 points. Third in the standings are Sam Dejonghe and Dénis Dupont (RACB National Team SEAT León), 70 points behind Lémeret.
Race 1 – Corthals made good use of his pole position and took the lead from Dupont, Rémy Latinne (Team WRT Volkswagen Golf) and Alexis van de Poele (Delahaye Racing Volkswagen Golf).
Francisco Mora (Ferry Monster Autosport SEAT León) moved up to fifth overtaking Amaury Richard (Delahaye Racing Volkswagen Golf) and Lémeret. However, on lap 5 the Portuguese spun and re-joined in ninth place. In the same lap Latinne overtook Dupont for second. A light rain disrupted the race in the final laps, which cost Latinne his second place; the Volkswagen driver missed the chicane and re-joined in eighth position.
Corthals won from Dupont, van de Poele and Léméret.
Race 2 – Guillaume Mondron (Delahaye Racing SEAT León) retired at the end of race one with technical problems; Corthals retained the lead at the start, while Lémeret managed to take second place ahead of Dupont and van de Poele.
During the first lap Mora overtook van de Poele and Dupont and moved up to third.
Dupont was chased by van de Poele, Richard, Latinne and David Dermont (Milo Racing Volkswagen Golf). Van de Poele and Latinne emerged from the battle and climbed to fourth and fifth respectively, while Richard retired after making contact with Dupont. Corthals won from Lémeret and Mora.
The next event of TCR Benelux will take place at Colmarberg, Luxembourg on 24 and 25 September.
