Filippi starts from the back and recovers to take victory

Mason Filippi recovered from the back of the field to take an authoritative victory in the opening round of TC America at Austin’s Circuit of Americas; Michael Hurczyn and Nate Vincent completed the podium, while Canada’s Alain Lauzière was classified fourth overall and won the DSG Cup. 
Filippi’s Hyundai Veloster N, the fastest car in Qualifying, was dropped to the back of the grid due to an overboost infringement. Vincent’s Volkswagen Golf GTI inherited pole position, but was slowed by a technical issue during the warm up lap and had to start behind the competitors of the slower TCA class.
At the start James Walker’s Alfa Romeo Giulietta tried to dive inside Hurczyn’s Golf GTI at T1, but lost several positions. Hurczyn led from the Audi RS 3 LMS cars of Nelson Chan and Bryan Putt, while Filippi managed to move up to fourth. Chan spun during the first lap and then Filippi overtook Putt for second.
On lap 4, the Hyundai driver stole the lead from Hurczyn and pulled away, while Vincent recovered to third overtaking Putt on lap 6.
In the second half of the race, Vincent closed the gap from his teammate Hurczyn, but not enough to try an overtaking manoeuvre. On lap 10, Lauzière passed Putt and took the lead in the DSG Cup, while Walker who had dropped to eighth recovered two positions passing Michael McCann and Chan.
The second race will start tomorrow at 11:45 local time (18:45 CET) on the distance of 40 minutes with Filippi on pole and Vincent alongside him, as they posted the two fastest laps in Race 1; live streaming at www.tcr-series.com and www.tcr-series.tv.

TC America – Race 1
1. Mason Filippi (TFB, Hyundai Veloster N) 16 laps
2. Michael Hurczyn (FCP Euro, Volkswagen Golf GTI) 8.980
3. Nate Vincent (FCP Euro, Volkswagen Golf GTI) 10.073
4. Alain Lauzière (Alphasonic Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS DSG) 29.704
5. Bryan Putt (eEuroparts.com ROWE Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS DSG) 37.931
6. James Walker (Risi Competizione, Alfa Romeo Giulietta) 40.661

Championship points
1. Filippi 25 pts; 2. Hurczyn 18; 3. Vincent 15; 4. Lauzière 12; 5. Putt 10