TCR Italy Mugello: Michele Imberti clinches 2026 title and seals season with Race 2 victory

The 2026 TCR Italy season concluded at Mugello with Michele Imberti wrapping up the overall Sequential title in style. Driving a Hyundai Elantra N EVO for Kombat Motorsport, the Italian driver arrived at the final weekend needing only a clean run in Saturday's Race 1 to secure the crown. Imberti managed the opening race calmly to finish second behind pole-sitter Cosimo Barberini (Cupra), who secured his maiden Sequential category win on home soil ahead of returnee Giacomo Prandelli (Audi RS 3 LMS). Imberti's primary championship rival, Matteo Poloni, crossed the line in fifth, mathematically putting the drivers' title out of reach.

Having sealed the championship, Imberti attacked from the fourth row on the grid in Race 2. An aggressive opening lap saw him pressure Sandro Pelatti into an error exiting the Correntaio corner, with Pelatti sliding into the gravel outside Borgo San Lorenzo. That opened the road for Imberti to claim his fourth race win of the year. MM Motorsport's Marco Pellegrini gave chase in his Honda Civic FL5 despite carrying a five-second grid infringement penalty, surviving a safety car period triggered by a clash between Poloni and Paolo Rocca. Although Pellegrini closed the gap in the closing laps, Imberti held firm to cross the line first.

Drama struck in the final laps behind the leader as Barberini suffered a broken half-shaft on the last lap while running in the podium spots. His misfortune promoted Prandelli to second place for his second rostrum appearance of the weekend, while Pellegrini was classified third after the application of his penalty. Denis Babuin finished fifth, which was enough to clinch third in the final championship standings over Pelatti on tiebreak rules thanks to his Race 1 victory at Monza earlier in the season. Pelatti nevertheless retained the Master trophy title.

In the DSG division, where Francesco Miotto had previously clinched the overall crown, Daniele Verrocchio took a double victory across both races for Planet Motorsport to lock in second place in the standings alongside the DSG Master trophy. In the secondary classes, Carlo Alberto Bocca secured the Under 25 trophy, while Kombat Motorsport and Planet Motorsport won the team championships in the Sequential and DSG categories respectively.