Pepe Oriola performed an encore at the Bahrain International Circuit. After victory in yesterday’s night Race 1, the Spanish driver and his SEAT León won the second race in a sunny and hot day. Oriola managed to recover from the sixth position on the grid and took the lead from Kevin Gleason’s Honda Civic on lap eight of ten. He eventually crossed the line ahead of James Nash in a 1-2 finish for Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil.
Behind them, Gleason and his WestCoast Racing teammates Aku Pellinen and Gianni Morbidelli challenged each other for the last spot on the podium. Gleason and Morbidelli made contact; the American was forced to stop, while the Italian suffered from a flat tyre, which handed third to Pellinen.
The reigning champion Stefano Comini and Mikhail Grachev retired after making a contact, while Jean-Karl Vernay was also eliminated for the consequences of a racing incident.
Race winner Oriola said following his victory, “My start wasn’t good, because of some clutch issues, so I was aiming at the podium but nothing more. Still, after we have changed the set-up, the tyres stayed good into the race and that gave me confidence to push.”
The TCR International Series will resume on April 23 and 24 at Estoril, Portugal, for rounds 3 and 4.
