Fulín claimed the Race 1 honours after Richard mistook a black and white driving standards flag as notice of a drive-through penalty and pitted on the penultimate lap, leaving Fulín to take his fourth win of the campaign, while Richard was forced to settle for fourth. But there were no mistakes from Richard in Race 2 as he stormed through from fifth on the reverse grid to take a lead by the end of the opening lap that he wouldn’t relinquish.

It was the perfect reward for the Swiss driver’s Rikli Motorsport squad, who worked alongside mechanics from the rival Lein and Lema teams into the night to repair his Honda Civic after it was badly damaged when the 21-year-old crashed in qualifying, shortly after claiming his maiden ETCC pole. His father also completed a 1200-kilometre round trip to collect spare parts from car builder JAS Motorsport in Milan, while a Rikli team member drove a road-going Civic from Switzerland so its left-side windows could be removed and fitted to Richard’s race car.

Today’s results mean Fulín and Richard will head to Imola for the season closer on 2 October equal on 92 points for what could be the closest finish in ETCC history.

Elsewhere, Niklas Mackschin is the provisional FIA ETCC Super 1600 Cup champion for a second year running as teenagers Tomáš Korený and Kevin Hilgenhövel shared the class wins. Meanwhile, French driver Pierre-Etienne Chaumat bagged a debut ETCC Super 2000 Cup podium to underline his promise.

RACE 1 REPORT: FULÍN PROFITS FROM RICHARD ERROR
SEAT-driving Czech Petr Fulín’s fourth win of the season came after a dramatic late twist when Kris Richard pitted from the lead in error. Pierre-Etienne Chaumat dropped to fifth after a hesitant rolling start but came back strongly, overtaking fellow SEAT driver Norbert Nagy (Hungary) for what turned out to be second in light of Richard’s woe. Mladen Lalušić made a flying getaway to hold fourth initially but the Serbian gradually slipped back to fifth in his SEAT, surviving late contact with Peter Rikli when he caught a patch of oil dropped by Christjohannes Schreiber’s stricken SEAT. Rikli was a double pit visitor with damaged left-rear suspension on his Honda, while Portugal’s Fábio Mota took sixth after pitting early on for technical checks. Tomáš Korený claimed the Super 1600 Cup spoils in a thrilling finish ahead of Kevin Hilgenhövel and Niklas Mackschin, who wrapped up the division title for a second year running. With Korený delayed by two slow-starting Super 2000 Cup drivers, Hilgenhövel moved in front but later slid wide on a patch of gravel, which allowed fellow teenager Korený to take top spot. The pair made light contact on the final lap, leaving Korený needing a new front bumper for Race 2. Andreas Rinke, Ksenia Niks and Daniel Niermann also scored points.

RACE 2 REPORT: RICHARD’S REVENGE SETS UP TITLE DECIDER
Kris Richard became a five-time winner in his first ETCC season after he charged through from fifth on the reverse grid to win race two as Petr Fulín fought his way up from eighth place to finish second. Swiss Peter Rikli held off Pierre-Etienne Chaumat for third, the Frenchman losing ground on lap two when contact with Fábio Mota braking for Turn 15 sent him wide. Mota’s tenure of a podium place was short-lived, however, and his race would be over when contact with Mladen Lalušić sent him into the wall heading to the Adelaide hairpin. Lalušić continued momentarily but was also forced to park his damaged SEAT. Norbert Nagy finished fifth behind Chaumat but could have been higher up the order had he not run wide exiting the final corner on lap four. Kevin Hilgenhövel beat Germany’s provisional champion Niklas Mackschin to the ETCC Super 1600 class win with Race 1 victor Tomáš Korený third, Andreas Rinke fourth and Ukraine’s Ksenia Niks fifth. Daniel Niermann’s race ended in the gravel trap on lap three, while Christjohannes Schreiber was a non-starter following his suspected engine failure in Race 1.

RACE WINNER QUOTES
Petr Fulín (Super 2000 Cup winner, Race 1): “I have to thank my team because, as usual, they did a good job all weekend. I was not able to overtake Kris because exiting corners in first and second gear the Honda is too fast [compared to my SEAT]. In third and fourth gears we were similar but the Honda had the advantage. I saw Kris [Richard] didn’t wait for the green flag on the rolling start and I thought he stopped for this reason but then I found out he did a mistake. It’s good for me but the situation is the same in the championship.”

Kris Richard (Super 2000 Cup winner, Race 2): “I don’t want to talk too much about Race 1 because I was an idiot. I think it was a drive-through but it wasn’t. I see a guy with a black flag and the number 11. I think should I come in or not. When I don’t and I have a black flag and I am disqualified or should I come in and maybe lose some places and not be disqualified and after the second lap we had no radio. For me winning Race 2 was the only answer. I was very happy with the start. Fortunately, I could pass [Fábio] Mota in the straight line and this was very important to make some gaps. After the fourth or fifth lap I hit the kerb a little bit too hard and there were some vibrations from the front-right and that took a little bit of speed out. In the braking points I tried not to brake too hard because I had in Free Practice a puncture and I don’t want that to repeat again. I just drive to hold the gap between me and Petr.”

Tomáš Korený (Super 1600 Cup winner, Race 1): “I lost two positions at the start and had to fight back. But then I got a bit lucky with the debris and Kevin [Hilgenhövel] just slipped on the debris and I got ahead of him and we fought to the finish. It was a good fight even though I made a small modification to the front of the car by the end. It’s a racing expense so hopefully I won’t have to pay for it!”

Kevin Hilgenhövel (Super 1600 Cup winner, Race 2): “The race was good and at the start I could push. Then I started to look in my mirrors. Niklas could overtake Tomáš and was able to close the gap to me but I could win the race.”

RESULTS: https://www.fiaetcc.com/event/circuit-de-nevers-magny-cours/

PROVISIONAL STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 10 OF 12: Super 2000: 1 Fulín and Richard 92; 3 Rikli 57; 4 Nagy 54; 5 Manuel Fernandes and Lalušić 40; etc. Super 1600:1 Mackschin 116; 2 Rinke 74; 3 Hilgenhövel 65; 4 Korený 56; 5 Niermann 33; 6 Krafft 32; etc. (Full standings: https://www.fiaetcc.com/event/circuit-de-nevers-magny-cours/