The new TCR Ibérico started today at Estoril with a grid of twelve cars that may also compete for the TCR Portugal and TCR Spain titles.
Francisco Abreu sat on pole position in his Team Novadriver Volkswagen Golf GTi, however him and Faust Salom (Baporo Motorsport SEAT León) stalled at the start.
It was therefore Manuel Gião (Vettra Motorsport SEAT) who took the lead, closely chased by Rafael Lobato (Veloso Motorsport Audi RS3 LMS). During the second lap, Lobato overtook Gião and began to pull away from the rest of the field.
Behind him there was a fierce fight for second place; Gião tried in vain to resist his pursuers and handed the second position to Abreu and the third to Francisco Mora (Veloso Motorsport SEAT) on lap 7.
Abreu seemed capable of closing in on Lobato, but the latter responded and kept a consistent pace until the end, winning with a 6-second margin on Abreu. Mora was classified third ahead of Gião, Manuel Pedro Fernándes (Speedy Motorsport SEAT) and Amalia Vinyes (Baporo Motorsport SEAT).
In tenth position was classified José Pedro Faria in the CRM Motorsport KIA cee’d; it was the first appearance of the Korean car that is running under a provisional homologation.
The second race will start tomorrow at 14:45 local with Mora on pole position.