Mike Halder wins TCR Spain’s inaugural race at Navarra

Mike Halder made history, becoming the winner of the very first race of TCR Spain’s inaugural season.
On his maiden visit to the Circuito de Navarra, the German driver qualified second behind the young Spaniard Alejandro Cutillas who set pole position at the wheel of his Peugeot 308 run by SMC Junior Motorsport. Cutillas posted a provisional fastest lap in the first part of the 20-minute session and was able to improve it later on, winning the pole with the time of 1:48.450. There were changes in the order behind him during the last five minutes and the final ranking saw Mike Halder, Alba Cano, Fernando Navarrete and Michelle Halder being placed between second and fifth.
Mike Halder took the best start ahead of his sister, and so the siblings were leading the field into Turn 1 in their Halder Motorsport Honda Civic Type R cars; Cutillas and Navarrete followed while a poor start from P3 meant that Cano found herself in fifth position.
By the end of the first lap, Michelle Halder slipped back all the way to fifth, while Cutillas advanced to P2 and tried to close the gap from the leader. Halder had already built a one-second margin and despite his efforts Cutillas was unable to get closer.
Behind the leading duo, Navarrete and Cano began fighting for the third spot on the podium. Eventually Cano managed to overtake Navarrete in lap 9 and then she even clocked the fastest lap of the race of 1:48.176.
Michelle Halder benefited from the fight and closed in on Navarrete who had to fight for successfully defending the fourth position during the final part of the race. 
Race 2 will start tomorrow at 10:40 local time (CEST) with Michelle Halder on pole position of the reversed grid, Race 3 will follow at 14:20 local time (CEST); live streaming of both races at www.tcr-series.com.

Navarra – Race 1
1. Mike Halder (Halder Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 12 laps
2. Alejandro Cutillas (SMC Motorsport, Peugeot 308), 0.987
3. Alba Cano (Monlau Competición, CUPRA Leon Competición), 8.689
4. Fernando Navarrete (SMC Motorsport, Peugeot 308), 10.585
5. Michelle Halder (Halder Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 18.815

Championship points
1. Mk. Halder 44 pts; 2. A. Cutillas 41; 3. A. Cano 35 

Picture: TCR Spain