Jack Young makes a winning start to his TCR Europe campaign

Jack Young, driving a Halder Motorsport Honda Civic Type R, took victory in the first TCR Europe race of the season, beating his teammate Mike Halder by 2.2 seconds at Portimão. Nicola Baldan finished third in a Target Competition Hyundai Elantra.

Pole-sitter Halder made a strong start and led into Turn 1 while Young, starting from P2, moved across to block a fast-starting Baldan from P3. There were battles at the top end of the leaderboard, with Isidro Callejas passing Franco Girolami for fourth. 

The second half of the race was largely uneventful, with Young steadily opening up a gap over Halder, with Baldan clearly determined to stay in touch with the pair. There was then a slight gap back to Callejas, Girolami, Josh Files and Klim Gavrilov.

The win was Young’s first in TCR Europe but, thanks to his two second-place finishes he scored in the TCR Italy series at Monza last weekend, the JAS Motorsport Development driver now leads both the TCR Europe and TCR Italy championships.

Race 2 will start at 14:15 local time (15:15 CEST) on Sunday and will be streamed live via TCR TV.

Portimão – Race 1
1. Jack Young (Halder Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R), 12 laps
2. Mike Halder (Halder Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R), 2.24
3. Nicola Baldan (Target Competition, Hyundai Elantra N), 3.306

Championship points
1. J. Young 50 pts; 2. Mk. Halder 45; 3. N. Baldan 35

Picture: TCR Europe