Kris Richard has won the FIA European Touring Car Cup Super 2000 crown* following a dramatic season-closing double-header at Imola in Italy today (Sunday). Despite failing to win either race shown live on Eurosport, the Swiss took the title on countback after the weekend ended just as it had begun with Richard tied on points with season-long rival Petr Fulín.

While both drivers claimed five wins in 2016, Richard’s three seconds compared to the two scored by Fulín, means it’s the 21-year-old Honda driver who comes out on top ahead of the SEAT-driving Czech. Richard’s prize at the end of his first season of touring car racing is a race weekend in the 2017 FIA World Touring Car Championship.

Elsewhere, Norbert Nagy ended the season third in the table, one point ahead of Richard’s team-mate Peter Rikli, while Niklas Mackschin rounded out a dominant ETCC Super 1600 title defence by bringing his total of class wins to eight on his 22ndbirthday.

Meanwhile, there was a breakthrough first ETCC victory for former multiple FIA European Hillclimb champion Igor Stefanovski, who claimed the Race 1 laurels on an historic day for Macedonian motorsport. Finn Aku Pellinen was a double podium finisher on his ETCC return.

RACE 1 REPORT: STEFANOVSKI WINS, ADVANTAGE RICHARD IN TITLE FIGHT
Igor Stefanovski claimed a surprise maiden ETCC win as Kris Richard took second to gain the upper hand over title rival Petr Fulín. Richard made a great start from third on the rolling grid to shoot into the lead by Tamburello, followed by fellow second-row starter Stefanovski, with front-row pair Aku Pellinen and Fulín falling behind. After applying sustained pressure, Stefanovski eventually found a way past Richard at the end of lap five and the Macedonian then pulled away on his way to victory for the ASK Lein Racing team that he joined for his ETCC return this weekend. Richard lacked the pace to keep with Stefanovski, with his TCN2-specification Honda Civic showing signs of smoke into Acque Minerali, but Rikli Motorsport team-mate Pellinen remained behind him and Fulín had to settle for fourth. A three-point swing in Richard’s favour put him two points ahead of Fulín going into the deciding race, albeit two places behind him on the grid. Christjohannes Schreiber finished fifth ahead of Norbert Nagy, Claudio Truffer and Fábio Mota, who took the reverse-grid pole for race two. Boštjan Avbelj sealed ninth from the back of the grid ahead of Peter Rikli, who recovered from being spun around at the start by Andreas Pfister, who received a drive-through penalty. Niklas Mackschin claimed the Super 1600 win in his Ford Fiesta, overhauling the pole-sitting Peugeot of Kevin Hilgenhövel, who took second in front of Tomáš Korený.

RACE 2 REPORT: FULÍN’S RACE, RICHARD’S ETCC SUPER 2000 TITLE

The fight for the 2016 FIA ETCC Super 2000 Cup came right down to the wire in the final race, with Kris Richard taking second place on the last lap to snatch the crown from race winner Petr Fulín on countback. Richard took a two-point advantage into the race but lost out off the start and was delayed getting around the car of Christjohannes Schreiber, who was slow away. He quickly progressed past his team-mate Peter Rikli and race one winner Igor Stefanovski however to be two places behind Fulín, who was up to third. Fulín then charged into the lead through the opening corners of lap two, passing Norbert Nagy and then Fábio Mota. A lap later, Rikli Motorsport drivers Aku Pellinen and Richard climbed to second and third. Richard lacked the pace to keep up with the front two during the race, with Fulín managing to keep Pellinen at bay at two safety car restarts. Richard was able to pass Pellinen on the final lap however to claim a crucial second place that tied him on points with Fulín. Fulín’s victory meant both drivers have scored five wins this season, but Richard’s pair of second-places at Imola was enough to give him the title, with three seconds in total to Fulín’s two. Fábio Mota won a thrilling scrap for fourth ahead of Andreas Pfister, Boštjan Avbelj and Adrian Spescha. There was drama in the fight for third in the Super 2000 standings, where Peter Rikli and Norbert Nagy came into the decider tied on points. At one stage, Rikli ran wide into the gravel and Nagy followed, with the duo then colliding when they returned to the track. Rikli fell a lap down due to damage but Nagy managed to continue and claim the final point in eighth, passing Schreiber at the final restart. Race one winner Igor Stefanovski and Claudio Truffer crashed out to cause the first safety car, with the second triggered by an off for Super 1600 driver Daniel Niermann. Tomáš Korený led much of the way in Super 1600, but champion Niklas Mackschin passed him before the end for another win. Andreas Rinke, Kevin Hilgenhövel, Ulrike Krafft, Ksenia Niks completed the class finishers as Germany secured the ETCC Nations’ Cup spoils, while Rinke took runner-up in the final S1600 standings, four points ahead of ETH Peugeot team-mate Hilgenhövel.

RACE WINNER QUOTES
Igor Stefanovski (ETCC Super 2000 Cup winner, Race 1): “It’s the first time I win in the ETCC and with this new team, Lein Racing. I have a good car and a good team and I win this race. In the second race one driver hit me and I don’t know what happened, that’s it. I don’t finish the race. The car is damaged but I am okay. It was a stupid mistake by these guys because I don’t finish this race.”

Petr Fulín (ETCC Super 2000 Cup winner, Race 2): “To be honest I absolutely don’t know what I should say. If you imagine my season I was fastest in Slovakia Ring and also in Vila Real but I did not get the points. Then we had the problem with the SEAT here. And the Rikli team was, during the whole weekend, very strong because they had more cars so what should I say? Yes, I am really disappointed about this but the most important is life experience and I know I was fastest during the second race, during the first race the others had a better start and Igor was approximately 50 kilos lighter. During the second race I was able to push very hard and it was fun for me. But concerning the championship I lost the first position and that’s all.”

Niklas Mackschin (ETCC Super 1600 Cup winner Race 1 and Race 2): “The first race was really good. The speed was really good. It was a little bit boring actually. But in the second race Tomáš Korený was really strong and it was really hard to overtake him. But in the last lap I was able to catch him so a double win and a good birthday present for me. I really thank the team and everybody, my friends for this year and I hope to drive in Super 2000 next year against Petr and Kris, I really hope.”

Q&A: KRIS RICHARD ETCC SUPER 2000 CUP PROVISIONAL CHAMPION

Q: How are you feeling right now, has it sunk in yet?

KR: “I am feeling really, really good. I need to come back to the first race. I was having big problems with the car after a few laps. I had much more understeer and oversteer and I saw white smoke in the mirrors sometimes and I smelt something that was not so good, maybe a bit of oil burning. But I was lucky to bring the second place home. Then at the start of the second race I was able to get close to Petr but he pushed me a little bit onto the grass and I lost the traction and lost there many places. But after the safety car I think I was able to hold the same pace, he was a little bit faster and that’s it. I am very happy and also very thankful to the team. They did a great job and when I look back on the whole season it was a really tight fight and I also have to congratulate Petr. He is one of the best drivers and I have big respect for him.”

Q: We saw smoke coming from your car in the first race, what actually was wrong?

KR: “It was only in the first race and I don’t know exactly. During the whole year we had some problems sometimes when the oil level is too high it comes a little bit over the air intake maybe. It comes a little bit out and sometimes it goes a little bit on the exhaust. It’s a problem but we have a lot of time to fix it.”

Q: Were you worried it could be a problem for the second race?

KR: “Yes of course, I was afraid that maybe the car would not be able to finish but fortunately the car had no problems after so I am really happy about this.”

Q: What about the role of your new team-mate Aku Pellinen, you needed to get ahead of him to win the title but it looked like you couldn’t actually catch him. Was there another car issue or was this part of a strategic plan?

KR: “I told him before the race to drive your own style, your own race and when you can win do it because the faster of me and Petr should win [the title]. He told me after the race his brake pedal was going really down. I don’t know during the race that I need the second place to win but in the end they told me I was only champion because of the second place. It was lucky for me but bad for Petr. But sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.”

Q: Looking back there have been a number of highlights for you, five race wins no less, but can you pick out one moment that made you really happy?

KR: “For me the best, I have two races. The first was in Le Castellet, this was not a good race but in the first race they put me into a spin and I did the fastest lap with a bad rear axle and that was one of my best races. And also winning at the Nürburgring, the best race track on the planet and that was also one of the best races of course.”

Q: And looking to the future, there’s obviously a prize drive at a World Touring Car Championship race weekend for you next year but what is your plan for 2017?

KR: “At the moment I have not an exact idea what I will do next year. I hope I can continue with touring cars and I hope also with Honda. I feel very confident with the car. What comes next I don’t know. I think it needs a bit of time to see what budget I can get for next year to see what I can do.”

RESULTS: https://www.fiaetcc.com/event/autodromo-enzo-e-dino-ferrari-imola/

PROVISIONAL STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 12 OF 12:

Super 2000: 1 Richard 109; 2 Fulín 109; 3 Nagy 58; 4 Rikli 57; 5 Manuel Fernandes 40; 6 Lalušić 40; 7 Mota 32; 8 Schreiber 28; 9 Pellinen 15; 10 Stefanovski 14; etc.

Super 1600: 1 Mackschin 138; 2 Rinke 84; 3 Hilgenhövel 81; 4 Korený 71; 5 Niks 38; 6 Niermann 37; 7 Krafft 36; 8 Ievtushenko 16; 9 Griessner 12; 10 Kopylets 12; etc.

ETCC Nations’ Cup: 1 DMSB (Germany) 250; 2 ASS (Switzerland) 169; 3 ACCR (Czech Republic) 122; 4 MNASZ (Hungary) 51; 5 AMCC (Serbia) 50; 6 FAU (Ukraine) 48; 7 AS2005 (Slovenia) 37; 8 FPAK (Portugal) 36; 9 FFSA (France) 33; 10 REFDA (Spain) 6.

(Full standings: https://www.fiaetcc.com/event/autodromo-enzo-e-dino-ferrari-imola/)

STATISTICS (after round 12 of 12)

SUPER 2000
Race wins: Kris Richard 5; Petr Fulín 5; Manuel Fernandes and Igor Stefanovski 1

Pole positions: René Münnich, Petr Fulín, Aku Pellinen, Kris Richard, Christjohannes Schreiber and Norbert Nagy 1

Fastest laps: Petr Fulín and Kris Richard 4; Christjohannes Schreiber 2; Norbert Nagy and Igor Stefanovski 1

SUPER 1600

Race wins: Niklas Mackschin 8; David Greissner, Ulrike Krafft, Tomáš Korený and Kevin Hilgenhövel 1

Pole positions: Niklas Mackschin 3; Kevin Hilgenhövel, Tomáš Korený and Ulrike Krafft 1

Fastest laps: Niklas Mackschin 6; Kevin Hilgenhövel 3; David Greissner, Tomáš Korený and Ulrike Krafft 1

ETCC HALL OF FAME:

2016 S2000: Kris Richard (CHE) S1600: Niklas Mackschin (DEU)

2015 TC2T: Davit Kajaia (GEO) TC2: Michal Matĕjovský (CZE) S1600: Niklas Mackschin (DEU) Single Make Trophy: Dušan Borković (SRB)

2014 S2000 TC2T: Nikolay Karamyshev (RUS) S2000 TC2: Petr Fulín (CZE) S1600: Gilles Bruckner (LUX) Single Make Trophy: Dmitry Bragin (RUS)

2013 S2000: Petr Fulín (CZE) S1600: Kevin Krammes (DEU) Single Make Trophy: Mario Dablander (AUT)

2012 Super Production: Nikolay Karamyshev (RUS) S2000: Fernando Monje (ESP) S1600:Kevin Krammes (DEU) Single Make Trophy: Stian Paulsen (NOR)

2011 Super Production: Aleksander Tosic (SRB) S2000: Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA) S1600:Thomas Mühlenz (DEU)

2010 Super Production: Vojislav Lekic (SRB) S2000: James Thompson (GBR) S1600:Carsten Seifert (DEU)

2009 Super Production: Marcis Birkens (LVA) S2000: James Thompson (GBR) S1600:Carsten Seifert (DEU)

2008 Super Production: Fabio Fabiani (ITA) S2000: Michel Nykjær (DNK) S1600: Ralf Martin (DEU)

2007 Super Production: Aleksey Basov (RUS) S2000: Michel Nykjær (DNK)

2006 Super Production: Alexander Lvov (RUS) S2000: Ryan Sharp (GBR)

2005 Super Production: Richard Göransson (SWE) S2000: Lorenzo Falessi (ITA)

*All results subject to final confirmation