After leading an impressive Lynk & Co Cyan Racing 1-2-3 finish in Saturday's Race 1, today the French driver has added a third place in Race 2 and yet another victory in Race 3. This string of results meant that Ehrlacher has taken the lead of the Drivers' championship, six points ahead of his teammate Santiago Urrutia, while the previous leader GOAT Racing's Esteban Guerrieri has slipped down to third, one point behind Urrutia.

The supremacy of the Lynk & Co cars is further testified by Thed Björk and Ma Qing Hua who are placed fourth and fifth, sandwiching Guerrieri's Honda.

The Hyundai cars have recovered from the bitter disappointment of the Mexican season opener and Néstor Girolami in Race 2 scored the first victory of the year for the BRC Squadra Corse, climbing to sixth in the standings.

The World Tour now moves to Monza where it will race next week.

Championship points

1. Ehrlacher, 152 pts.; 2. S. Urrutia, 146; 3. E. Guerrieri, 145 ...

Race 2

Néstor Girolami wins an action-packed race

John Filippi led the way from pole position ahead of Felipe Fernández, while Girolami was up to third from fifth on the grid, passing Esteban Guerrieri and Ruben Volt. Girolami overtook Fernández for second in lap 2, then Fernández allowed teammate Guerrieri through, but at the same time Thed Björk tried to make his way past. Fernández came back at him and kept the position, with Björk under attack from Norbert Michelisz and Volt.

Girolami took the lead from Filippi in lap 3, while the battle between Volt, Michelisz and Björk raged on for a few more laps, with Volt overtaking Michelisz and Björk to move up to fifth. Volt charged past Fernández and Michelisz overtook Björk at Turn 2. The Hungarian’s race unravelled in lap 6, when he tried to pass Fernández and made contact with Björk. Michelisz went off and dropped down to 14th.

Björk allowed Yann Ehrlacher through and the French driver continued his charge from tenth on the grid. Both Volt and Ehrlacher passed Guerrieri and Filippi to move up to second and third, though there was a fright for Ehrlacher as Filippi clipped the rear of his car at the final corner on lap 13.

Girolami had built up a 3.5 second lead, but this was coming down during the final laps with Volt and Ehrlacher closing; eventually, the Argentine claimed his first win since Vallelunga last year; Volt scored his and ALM Motorsport’s first podium, while Ehrlacher finished third.

Néstor Girolami, Race 2 winner

“We turned around a situation where we were not really good yesterday, and I knew today the start was the most important moment of the race. I had a good start and overtook Guerrieri and then Fernández. In the first two to three laps you have the peak of the tyres, so I needed to use it. I was far from Filippi but I saw that corner was very good for my car and so I took the inside and he didn’t close the line which was fair from him. I then created a gap. This win is for all the mechanics and engineers, this is dedicated to them, they were working past midnight on the car last night, so it’s great to give something back.”

Race 2

1. N. Girolami (BRC Hyundai N, Hyundai Elantra N), 19 laps
2. R. Volt (ALM Motorsport, Honda Civic FL5), 1.029
3. Y. Ehrlacher (Lynk & Co Cyan, Lynk & Co 03 FL), 1.732 ...

Race 3

Ehrlacher takes a comfortable victory

Yann Ehrlacher got off the line well from the pole and moved to cover Santiago Urrutia into T1, while Néstor Girolami tried to get around the outside of Urrutia, but the latter stayed close to Ehrlacher and held the position.

Ruben Volt was the best-placed Honda at the start, fourth on the grid, but was passed by Esteban Guerrieri, with Norbert Michelisz in tow moving up to fifth ahead of the Estonian.

On lap 2, Urrutia dived down the inside of Ehrlacher at T1 and took the lead of the race, but the Cyan Racing team ordered him to return the position a lap later and the pair continued in formation to the finish to claim an easy 1-2 for the team.

Girolami would have a safe run to third ahead of Guerrieri, while Michelisz would score another strong result after yesterday’s P4 with fifth. Ignacio Montenegro was one of the main movers early in the race, moving up a few positions to go from tenth on the grid to finish eighth, passing Thed Björk and Mikel Azcona.

The race only featured two retirements, with both wild cards Julien Briché and Eric Gené stopping with technical issues.

Yann Ehrlacher, Race 3 winner

“It was quite a nice weekend for us, it is the first time we’ve had a weekend with no bad luck. I was happy with the pace and all the work the guys have done, as it was really hot, so it has taken a bit to put everything together. I think Valencia is a nice touring car track; it’s quite challenging for us drivers to put together a good lap and the high temperature didn’t make things very easy either. It was quite challenging and hopefully we’ll come back here in the future.”

Race 3

1. Y. Ehrlacher (Lynk & Co Cyan, Lynk & Co 03 FL), 19 laps
2. S, Urrutia (Lynk & Co Cyan, Lynk & Co 03 FL), 3.731
3. N. Girolami (BRC Hyundai N, Hyundai Elantra N), 4.340 ...