Kris Richard, who finished Race 1 just behind in second, took the honours in Race 2 and moves to second in the standings, four points behind Fulín. Niklas Mackschin hit back from his exit in the opening counter to take the Super 1600 laurels as David Griessner impressed on his debut by winning his class in Race 1.

RACE 1 REPORT: FULÍN EDGES RICHARD IN THRILLING BATTLE
Petr Fulín won the opening FIA ETCC Race of Nürburgring Nordschleife by slender margin of 0.132s ahead of Kris Richard. The Czech started on pole in his SEAT and got the better of his Honda-driving Swiss rival for his third win of 2016. Championship newcomer Teddy Clairet gave Peugeot’s 308 Racing Cup a strong debut in third place with team-mate David Pouget just behind. Peter Rikli fought through from the back of the grid following his qualifying crash to finish fifth in his Honda with Christjohannes Schreiber completing the Super 2000 Cup top six. Austrian rookie David Griessner was the top Super 1600 Cup finisher on his ETCC debut followed home by ETH Tuning team-mate Andreas Rinke. Pavlo Kopylets and Daniel Niermann also finished but it was a tough race for S1600 title leader Niklas Mackshin, who was eliminated in a first-lap collision. Super 2000 Cup contenders Norbert Nagy and Igor Stefanovski crashed.

RACE 2 REPORT: RICHARD HITS BACK AS SCHREIBER SHINES
Kris Richard worked with way up the order to claim victory in the second FIA ETCC Race of Nürburgring Nordschleife. Starting seventh on the reverse-grid following his second place in Race 1, Richard climbed to third on the opening lap behind Fábio Mota and his team-mate Peter Rikli. Mota continued to lead as the cars headed on to the third and final lap, but his margin was just 0.045 seconds over Richard, with the young Swiss driver moving into the lead. His victory means he and Petr Fulín both have three wins apiece from six races in 2016. Mota would end up fourth on the road in his older-specification SEAT only to be excluded when his car failed a post-race weight check. Christjohannes Schreiber beat his Křenek Motorsport team-mate Petr Fulín to the runner-up spot in his TCN2 SEAT with Teddy Clairet fourth, David Pouget fifth and Peter Rikli sixth. Mladen Lalušić took seventh from the reverse-grid pole. After failing to finish Race 1, Niklas Mackschin bounced back to dominate the Super 1600 class, 23 seconds ahead of Andres Rinke with Pavlo Kopylets close behind in third. Sergii Kravets and Daniel Niermann also scored. Noise infringement issues prevented David Griessner from taking the start. Norbert Nagy and Igor Stefanovski were also non-starters, while Ulrike Krafft’s hefty crash in qualifying meant the German Super 1600 frontrunner was also unable to race.

RACE WINNER QUOTES
Petr Fulín (Super 2000 winner, Race 1): “Firstly I have to thank my team. We did a very good job. In the first race I was really trying to concentrate. I think I was maybe a bit faster in the second half of the track and Kris the first. But with the slipstream it made it very exciting. I am satisfied and I enjoyed it and I am pleased that we both finished without damage.”

Kris Richard (Super 2000 winner, Race 2): “For me it was amazing. I could drive my race and I’m very happy that the car is in one piece, I really enjoyed it here at the Nordschleife and I think I’ll come back again. It was also great to race at the same time as the WTCC grid.”

David Griessner (Super 1600 winner, Race 1): “Race one was very good for me, I got a great start and took the lead. It was perfect. Then there was a problem with the noise of the car and we were not allowed to start the second race, which I don’t understand. I would like to race again in the ETCC, probably next year, it’s a great series and I’ve really enjoyed racing here at the Nordschliefe.”  

Niklas Mackschin (Super 1600 winner, Race 2): “I was not happy after the first race, it was a bad situation. Race two was absolutely perfect and now I’m looking forward to our next round in Portugal and driving on a street circuit for the first time, I’m sure it will be very interesting.”

RESULTS: https://www.fiaetcc.com/event/nurburgring-nordschleife/

STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 6 OF 12: Super 2000: 1 Fulín 48; 2 Richard 44; 3 Rikli 37; 4 Nagy, Schreiber and Lalušić 20; etc. Super 1600: 1 Mackschin 55; 2 Rinke 38; 3 Krafft 32; 4 Korený 23; 5 Levtushenko and Niermann 16; etc. (Full standings: https://www.fiaetcc.com/event/nurburgring-nordschleife/