Julien Briché did it again! Just like in the TCR Europe season opener at the Hungaroring, the experienced Frenchman was able to score victory in the weekend’s second race. At Hockenheim he converted his pole position into a lights-to-flag win ahead of his fellow countryman Aurélien Comte who chased him throughout the race and completed an impressive 1-2 for the Peugeot 308 cars. Jessica Bäckman claimed an historical female podium in TCR Europe, emerging as the best of the large and qualified group of Hyundai drivers, including her brother Andreas who was classified fourth.
Although the first four positions did not change, behind the leading quartet there were several battles for the positions with plenty of contacts and overtaking. Santiago Urrutia was able to recover to fifth, passing Maxime Potty, while the most entertaining fight was for the seventh position between Luca Engstler, Josh Files, Gilles Magnus and Tom Coronel who finished in this order. Among the victims of the fierce competition were Mat’o Homola retired with damage at the front of the car, Stian Paulsen pushed off by Dušan Borković, who received a drive-through for the incident, and Natan Bihel punted into a spin by Viktor Davidovski.
Files managed to retain the leadership in the standings, but Briché has moved up to second, only five points behind, demoting Magnus to third with a gap of 23.
The TCR Europe Series will resume in two-week time at Spa-Francorchamps for round 5 and 6.
Race 2
1. Julien Briché (JSB Compétition, Peugeot 308), 13 laps
2. Aurélien Comte (DG Sport Compétition, Peugeot 308), 1.302
3. Jessica Bäckman (Target Competition, Hyundai i30 N), 2.235
4. Andreas Bäckman (Target Competition, Hyundai i30 N), 2.666
5. Santiago Urrutia (Team WRT, Audi RS 3 LMS), 3.951
Championship points
1. Files 112 pts; 2. Briché 107; 3. Magnus 89