Santiago Urrutia became the eighth winner from eight races in the 2021 WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup as the Uruguayan led all the way in Race 2 at WTCR Race of Hungary.

His Goodyear-equipped Cyan Performance Lynk & Co 03 TCR effectively started from pole position after top qualifier Rob Huff was forced to start from the pitlane following the suspension damage he incurred in Race 1.

Urrutia led from lights to flag from Néstor Girolami’s ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type R TCR and Frédéric Vervisch’s Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi RS 3 LMS, a result that ensured a podium featuring three different customer racing brands.

Urrutia’s victory moves him level with fellow Lynk & Co-powered driver Yann Erhlacher in the points standings, but with one more podium finish this year it means the race winner takes over Goodyear #FollowTheLeader status.

“This weekend shows you have to focus on your own thing and you have to be 100 per cent every weekend,” said a delighted Urrutia after the second victory of his WTCR career so far. “I made a mistake in Aragón, so it feels good to be back on top. This is only my second season, so I didn’t expect to be this competitive.”

As expected, the start proved crucial at the Hungaroring. Huff lined up his Zengő Motorsport CUPRA Leon Competición at the end of the pitlane after his team ran out of time to repair the damage from skimming a chicane tyre stack in Race 1. That left Urrutia with a free run down to Turn 1, as the pack jostled behind him.

Girolami made contact with home hero Norbert Michelisz, sending the Hyundai driver into a spin – to the intense disappointment of the enthusiastic partisan crowd that had been welcomed back to the circuit’s main grandstands this year. The Honda driver continued in second place as Michelisz rejoined way down the order.

Frédéric Vervisch made a lightning start from ninth on the grid and found himself moving up to third as the field exited Turn 1. “It was crazy to start P9 and find myself here on the podium,” said the Comtoyou Team Audi Sport driver. “At the start everyone went to the inside.” That opened up space for him to capitalise on his rapid getaway.

Further down the field, Andreas Bäckman was knocked into the barrier at Turn 3 in his Target Competition Hyundai, but soon the field settled down into a high-speed train around the 4.381-kilometre circuit.

Behind the top three Mikel Azcona followed up his Race 1 podium with fourth for Zengő Motorsport, the Spaniard once again making contact with Yvan Muller on the first lap, this time at Turn 2.

King of WTCR Ehrlacher finished fifth to ensure he leaves WTCR Race of Hungary level on points with Urrutia at the head of the table, with Muller sixth and Thed Björk seventh to complete a strong weekend for the Cyan drivers.

Esteban Guerrieri was eighth in his Honda, ahead of Race 1 winner Gilles Magnus, while local hero Attila Tassi rounded out the top 10.

Tiago Monteiro was P11 in his Honda, with Nathanaël Berthon (Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport) next up. Jean-Karl Vernay, who came into the weekend as the Goodyear #FollowTheLeader, completed a difficult race day with P13 from P16 on the grid, while a disappointed Michelisz recovered from his first corner troubles to finish in P14.

The final points finisher was Luca Engstler (Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team), while Huff was classified in P18.

Magnus was top FIA WTCR Junior and WTCR Trophy finisher. Engstler and Bence Boldizs completed the WTCR Junior top three, while Tom Coronel was second in the WTCR Trophy order ahead of Boldizs.