Michelle and Mike Halder share victories in TCR Spain

German siblings Michelle and Mike Halder equally split victories and second places in TCR Spain’s Races 2 and 3 at Navarra.
Michelle converted her pole position for the morning’s race in her first win of the season, while Mike followed her for the whole race. In the afternoon, Mike took the lead at the start and never looked back, while Michelle took second when Alejandro Cutillas’ pace faded.
In Race 2, Michelle Halder took the lead after starting from the pole on the reversed grid. Her brother, Mike put the pressure on Fernando Navarrete and managed to pass him for second during the first lap. Soon afterwards, Navarrete made a mistake and slipped to fifth behind Alba Cano and Cutillas who were fighting for the third position. The Halder motorsport Honda Civic cars kept on leading, with Michelle followed by Mike. In lap 7, Cano collided with a car of the CET class and retired with damage to the front of his CUPRA Leon Competición; the same happened to Navarrete on the final lap and his Peugeot 308 stopped along the track.
At the front, Michelle took the flag with a margin of nine tenths over Mike, while Cutillas completed the podium only a further half-a-second behind.
The Halders’ hegemony continued in the third race. Starting from the second spot, Mike Halder took the lead immediately after the start and was never threatened until the end of the race. His sister, had a battle for the second position with Cutillas who managed to pass the German girl in the first part of the race. However, the pace of Cutillas’ Peugeot faded towards the end, and the young Spaniard dropped to fourth behind Michelle and his own teammate Navarrete who grabbed his first podium result. 
After her Race 2 incident, Alba Cano could only start at the back of the field in her freshly-repaired CUPRA and finished the race in P5.
The second event of TCR Spain will be at Jarama, July 3/4.

Navarra – Race 2
1. Michelle Halder (Halder Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 12 laps
2. Mike Halder (Halder Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 0.891
3. Alejandro Cutillas (SMC Motorsport, Peugeot 308), 1.463

Navarra – Race 3
1. Mike Halder (Halder Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 12 laps
2. Michelle Halder (Halder Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 4.325
3. Fernando Navarrete (SMC Motorsport, Peugeot 308), 0.987

Championship points
1. Mk. Halder 120 pts; 2. Mc. Halder 97; 3. A. Cutillas 97 

Picture: TCR Spain