Files flies to take an authoritative win in Race 1
Josh Files converted his pole position into an authoritative victory in the third round of the TCR Europe Series at Hockenheim. The Target Competition driver and his Hyundai i30 N took the lead at the start and pulled away. Not even a safety car period that re-grouped the field prevented Files from bidding farewell to the company once again. Behind him there was a close battle for the other podium positions between Luca Engstler, Maxime Potty and Julien Briché who eventually finished in this order.
Andreas Bäckman was a close fifth, while Santiago Urrutia recovered to sixth after making a poor start. Aurélien Comte and Gilles Magnus were classified seventh and eight, which was less than they expected, while the Clairet brothers rounded off the top ten, with Teddy ahead of Jimmy.
Some of the series’ main contenders had no luck. Mato Homola, the winner of Race 1 at the Hungaroring, stopped onto the gravel; Dušan Borković dropped to 14th after a series of collisions; Daniel Lloyd, Stian Paulsen and Gianni Morbidelli were all sidelined following race incidents; Tom Coronel and Nelson Panciatici made contact several times while fighting for the 11th position.
The victory helped Files to take the lead in the standings, 19 points clear of Magnus, while Briché has moved up into third.
The second race will start tomorrow at 11:35 with Briché and Jessica Bäckman sharing the front row of the top-ten reverse grid; live streaming at www.tcr-series.tv.
Race 1
1. Josh Files (Target Competition, Hyundai i30 N), 12 laps
2. Luca Engstler (M1RA Motorsport, Hyundai i30 N), 2.307
3. Maxime Potty (Team WRT, Volkswagen Golf GTI), 2.791
4. Julien Briché (JSB Compétition, Peugeot 308), 3.691
5. Andreas Bäckman (Target Competition, Hyundai i30 N), 4.309
Championship points
1. Files 97; 2. Magnus 76; 3. Briché 67
