Leuchter takes first WTCR win in dramatic final Nurburgring race
Sebastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen driver Benjamin Leuchter clinched his first World Touring Car Cup victory in a dramatic final Nurburgring Nordschleife race
Polesitter Leuchter was forced to work for his win, surviving two attacks from the championship-leading Munnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type R of Esteban Guerrieri on the opening lap and later staying at the head of a four-car train on the final tour.
Guerrieri launched his first of his bids for the lead at the start, making the most of the space that should have been occupied by Rob Huff's SLR Volkswagen Golf GTI - which could not take the start after an incident in race two - to challenge Leuchter into Turn 1.
While Leuchter ultimately gained the spot back exiting a busy first corner - at which Frederic Vervisch hit fourth-place starter Norbert Michelisz - he had to dig deep at the end of the first lap to preserve his lead.
Guerrieri got a good exit onto the long Dottinger Hohe straight at the end of the lap and pulled out of the VW's slipstream on the approach to Tiergarten, and had the Civic's nose ahead as the two headed through the sequence of left- and right-handers.
But Leuchter hung on around the outside and headed onto the start/finish straight with the lead, while a resulting loss of momentum meant Guerrieri forfeited second place to Vervisch's Comtoyou Audi RS3 LMS.
Leuchter had a more comfortable run down Dottinger and into Tiergarten at the end of the second lap and, although he struggled to escape from Vervisch, Guerrieri and the WRT Audi of Jean-Karl Vernay on the final lap, ultimately kept the chasing trio behind to close out the win.
While Guerrieri ended up third, the Argentinian extended his points lead significantly as nearest challenger Michelisz was forced to retire after he was whacked by Vervisch.
Reigning champion Tarquini initially crossed the line fourth but was later handed a 30-second penalty in lieu of a drivethrough for his incident with Huff, which dropped him out of the points in the final classification.
Instead, Tassi scored his best result to date, finishing fourth ahead of the third SLR VW of Benjamin Leuchter and title protagonists Esteban Guerrieri and Norbert Michelisz - who overtook Aurelien Panis (Comtoyou Cupra) on the final lap.
Jean-Karl Vernay was ninth in his WRT Audi ahead of Tom Coronel, whild Thed Bjork was promoted to 11th in his Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 03 when Nicky Catsburg's BRC Hyundai was disqualified for exceeding its maximum boost pressure and engine-speed values.
Bjork was classified 12th behind Buri, who is ineligible for points as a wildcard.
Drivers' standings
Pos | Driver | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Esteban Guerrieri | 215 |
2 | Norbert Michelisz | 170 |
3 | Thed Bjork | 161 |
4 | Nestor Girolami | 154 |
5 | Frederic Vervisch | 132 |
6 | Mikel Azcona | 127 |
7 | Gabriele Tarquini | 118 |
8 | Yvan Muller | 115 |
9 | Jean-Karl Vernay | 110 |
10 | Augusto Farfus | 99 |
11 | Yann Ehrlacher | 98 |
12 | Nicky Catsburg | 95 |
13 | Benjamin Leuchter | 86 |
14 | Johan Kristoffersson | 78 |
15 | Ma Qinghua | 72 |
16 | Rob Huff | 72 |
17 | Aurelien Panis | 55 |
18 | Kevin Ceccon | 44 |
19 | Tom Coronel | 43 |
20 | Andy Priaulx | 37 |
21 | Daniel Haglof | 35 |
22 | Attila Tassi | 29 |
23 | Niels Langeveld | 29 |
24 | Gordon Shedden | 29 |
25 | Tiago Monteiro | 23 |
26 | Mehdi Bennani | 23 |
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments