WTCR Race 1 flash: Berthon claims first win of season in Alsace GrandEst thriller

Nathanaël Berthon claimed his first WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup victory of the year with a commanding performance in Race 1 of the WTCR Race of Alsace GrandEst. The Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport driver used the superior straightline speed of his Audi RS 3 LMS to out-drag the pole-sitting ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda of Nestor Girolami at the start and was never headed afterwards. Ad/> The only French driver competing on home soil at Anneau du Rhin, Berthon maintained a 0.5s lead for most of the race to secure his second career victory – and his first since the WTCR Race of Slovakia in October 2020.

WTCRHome WTCR pole-chaser Berthon gave everything in Alsace GrandEst Qualifying3 HOURS AGO It was also the third win of 2022 for the Audi RS3 LMS and the second in a row after fellow Comtoyou driver Gilles Magnus triumphed last time out at Vallelunga. “To get my first win of the season in France is very cool,” Berthon said. “I had to push to the maximum whle also trying to manage the tyres and everything else.

“I’m very happy for the team, for all the energy we’ve put in over this season and last season. It’s paid off today.” Girolami finished second, ahead of Gilles Magnus’s Comtoyou Audi and BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse’s Mikel Azcona, cutting the gap to the Spaniard in the Goodyear #Followtheleader battle from 32 points to 25 – exactly the number of points available from Race 2 later this afternoon. Girolami’s team-mate Esteban Guerrieri ran fourth during the early stages, but contact at Turn 1 from Magnus sent the Argentinian into a lurid slide across the grass and gravel on lap five.

Guerrieri pitted immediately for new tyres and resumed at the back of the field. He finished 10th and set the fastest lap. While