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Zandvoort WTCR: New Peugeot takes first win with Aurelien Comte

Aurelien Comte scored a first World Touring Car Cup victory for Peugeot's 308TCR car in the reversed-grid race at Zandvoort ahead of Munnich Motorsport frontrunner Yann Ehrlacher

Having achieved a maiden WTCR podium for himself and the 308TCR on Sunday by leaping from seventh to second at the start, Comte set up victory in Monday's first race with another fast getaway from the front row to beat polesitter James Thompson down to the first corner.

Despite Thompson getting close to the leader after a mid-race safety car, Comte was not headed at the front of the field and cruised to victory by 4.757 seconds while Thompson and team-mate Ehrlacher swapped positions on the final lap.

Comte became the eighth driver to win from the first 14 WTCR races of the season, with the DG Sport driver's victory also making Peugeot the fifth of the seven brands competing in the world cup to win a race.

Runner-up Ehrlacher started the race from fifth in his Honda Civic, but beat Mehdi Bennani on the opening lap to run fourth.

Ehrlacher then spent the majority of the race bottled up behind the Campos Racing Cupra of Pepe Oriola until he pushed his way past with a little more than two laps remaining - with Oriola squirming wide at the slow Vodafone left-hander after a bump from the Civic.

Thompson then slowed two corners from the finish to allow his team-mate into second place, which moves Ehrlacher within a point of his uncle - four-time World Touring Car champion Yvan Muller - at the head of the drivers' standings.

Behind Thompson, who secured his first podium since his return, came Oriola, who was able to hold off a growing queue of cars on the final lap after Ehrlacher had muscled his way through.

Bennani came home fifth in his Sebastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Golf GTi ahead of Gordon Shedden, who enjoyed a tussle with the third Munnich Civic of Esteban Guerrieri.

Shedden left the door open for Guerrieri to take sixth while the Briton attempted to find a way past Bennani, but Shedden reclaimed the position on the penultimate lap in his WRT Audi RS3 LMS after setting up a move up the inside of the fast Scheivlak right-hander.

The second SLR Golf of Rob Huff came home eighth, ahead of Frederic Vervisch (Comtoyou Audi) and John Filippi in the second Campos Cupra.

Race three polesitter Jean-Karl Vernay elected to start from the pitlane in his WRT Audi after an engine change, and completed four laps before returning to his garage.

Race two result

Pos Driver Team Car Laps Gap
1 Aurelien Comte DG Sport Competition Peugeot 14 26m47.210s
2 Yann Ehrlacher Munnich Motorsport Honda 14 4.757s
3 James Thompson Munnich Motorsport Honda 14 5.255s
4 Pepe Oriola Campos Racing Cupra 14 6.657s
5 Mehdi Bennani Sebastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen 14 7.120s
6 Gordon Shedden WRT Audi 14 7.458s
7 Esteban Guerrieri Munnich Motorsport Honda 14 8.086s
8 Rob Huff Sebastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen 14 9.198s
9 Frederic Vervisch Comtoyou Racing Audi 14 9.567s
10 John Filippi Campos Racing Cupra 14 9.988s
11 Denis Dupont Comtoyou Racing Audi 14 10.557s
12 Benjamin Lessennes Boutsen Ginion Racing Honda 14 10.887s
13 Gianni Morbidelli Team Mulsanne Alfa Romeo 14 11.561s
14 Tom Coronel Boutsen Ginion Racing Honda 14 12.855s
15 Nathanael Berthon Comtoyou Racing Audi 14 13.656s
16 Thed Bjork YMR Hyundai 14 13.729s
17 Zsolt Szabo Zengo Motorsport Cupra 14 13.798s
18 Mat'o Homola DG Sport Competition Peugeot 14 16.508s
19 Gabriele Tarquini BRC Racing Team Hyundai 14 16.961s
20 Norbert Nagy Zengo Motorsport Cupra 14 17.493s
21 Bernhard van Oranje Bas Koeten Racing Audi 14 19.996s
22 Michael Verhagen Bas Koeten Racing Audi 14 23.897s
23 Norbert Michelisz BRC Racing Team Hyundai 14 25.146s
24 Yvan Muller YMR Hyundai 9 5 Laps
- Aurelien Panis Comtoyou Racing Audi 4 Retirement
- Fabrizio Giovanardi Team Mulsanne Alfa Romeo 4 Retirement
- Jean-Karl Vernay WRT Audi 4 Retirement


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